William Adams (1564-1620), better known in Japan as Miura Anjin, was an English navigator who was the first Englishman to reach Japan, and the first non-Japanese Samurai. He is recognized as one of the most influential foreigners to ever step foot in Japan.

He arrived in Japan in 1598 as one of the few survivors of the ship De Liefde under the leadership of Jacob Quaeckernaeck. Jesuit sources claim Adams had, prior to this voyage, taken part in an expedition to the Arctic, in search of a Northeast Passage, but Thomas Rundall disputes this, as the said Jesuit did not mention such an expedition in his autobiographical letter which written during his time in Japan.

Soon after his arrival in Japan, Adams and his second mate Jan Joosten became advisors to shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Adams rose to be one of Ieyasu's trusted advisors and oversaw naval production and was highly influential in trade and the relaxation of the Isolationist policy. Adams promoted a policy of religious intolerance, aimed particularly at Catholics, which would later become a centuries-long policy of religious persecution.

Over the years Adams had difficulty sending letters back to England, as they were often deliberately undelivered by the Dutch who did not want the East India Company to know about the mercantile opportunites opening up in Japan. Eventually his letters got through and the East India Company also gained a foothold in Japanese trade. It is these letters which make up the bulk of this work by Rundall.

Hakluyt Society First Series, VIII; 8vo (22.5 x 15 cm); folding map as frontispiece, 4 plates of manuscript facsimile, ex libris Inner Temple Library with bookplates and stamps, withdrawn stamp to titles, otherwise clean internally; original publisher's gilt blue cloth, slightly dampstained boards, spine a little darkened with a couple minor chips to head, a good copy; 4, [6], xxxviii, 186, [1]pp.