Japan. The society was most active in the Japanese silver trade, wherein large quantities of Japanese silver were shipped to Canton in exchange for Chinese silk; but the superiors of the mission were aware of the inherent distastefulness of Society involvement in mercantile transactions and resolved to keep the traffic to a minimum. Embassy to Europe Valignano was the initiator of the Tenshō embassy, the first official Japanese delegation to Europe, and accompanied the group of Japanese converts led by Mancio Ito from Nagasaki to Goa, from where he then returned to Macau. The delegation would sail on to Lisbon and spend several years in Europe where they were received with honors in Portugal, Spain, Florence, Rome, Venice and Milan. Conflicts with Rome and the Shogunate This breach of ecclesiastical practice did not go unnoticed by the heads of other European missions in the area, or by those who make their living via inter-Asiatic trade. Eventually, the Pope was forced to intervene, and, in 1585, the Holy See ordered an immediate cessation of all mercantile activities by the Society. Valignano made an impassioned appeal to the Pope, saying that he would forgo all trade as soon as the 12,000 ducats required to meet their annual expenses were forthcoming from another source. Abandoning the silk trade, he said, would be the equivalent to abandoning the mission to Japan, which was undoubtedly true. In a letter to the Superior General, Valignano asked for leniency and above all, trust: "Your paternity must leave this matter to my conscience, because with the help of God I trust that I shall continue to think about it, and also to consider the good name of the society in Japan and China, and when it seems to me possible to do so I shall gradually reduce and finally abandon the trade." But sufficient finances had to be secured from somewhere. By 1580, the society was maintaining a community of 150,000 people, 200 churches staffed with 85 Jesuits, including twenty Japanese brothers and an additional 100 acolytes. A decade later, there were 136 Jesuits in Japan with a caretaking staff of up to 300. At the height of the mission, there were about 600 people who were entirely dependent on the society for funds. All of this, in addition to the construction and maintenance of churches, schools, seminaries, and the printing press cost a great deal of money.