Tanaka Shōsuke

Tanaka Shōsuke (田中 勝助, also 田中 勝介) was an important Japanese technician and trader in metals from Kyoto during the beginning of the 17th century.

According to Japanese archives (駿府記) he was a representative of the great Osaka merchant Gotō Shōsaburō (後藤 少三郎). He is the first recorded Japanese to have travelled to the Americas in 1610 (although some Japanese, such as Christopher and Cosmas, are known to have sailed across the Pacific on Spanish galleons as early as 1587). Returning to Japan in 1611, he again went to North America in 1613, with the embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga. In total, he accomplished two roundtrips between Japan and North America and helped establish trade and diplomatic relations between Japan and the Spanish Empire.