with great ceremony. The ultimate mission for the embassy was to go on to Europe. The embassy spent some time in Mexico, and then went to Veracruz to board the fleet of Don Antonio Oquendo. Chimalpahin gives some account of the visit of Hasekura. "This is the second time that the Japanese have landed one of their ships on the shore at Acapulco. They are transporting here all things of iron, and writing desks, and some cloth that they are to sell here." "It became known here in Mexico and was said that the reason their ruler the Emperor of Japan sent this said lordly emissary and ambassador here, is to go in Rome to see the Holy Father Paul V, and to give him their obedience concerning the holy church, so that all the Japanese want to become Christians". Hasekura was settled in a house next to the Convent of San Francisco, and met with the Viceroy. He explained to him that he was also planning to meet King Philip III to offer him peace and to obtain that the Japanese could come to Mexico for trade. On Wednesday 9 April 20 Japanese were baptized, and 22 more on 20 April by the archbishop in Mexico, don Juan Pérez de la Serna, at the Convent of San Francisco. Altogether 63 of them received confirmation on 25 April. Hasekura waited for his travel to Europe to be baptized there: "But the lordly emissary, the ambassador, did not want to be baptized here; it was said that he will be baptized later in Spain". Departure for Europe Chimalpahin explains that Hasekura left some of his compatriots behind before leaving for Europe: "The Ambassador of Japan set out and left for Spain. In going he divided his vassals; he took a certain number of Japanese, and he left an equal number here as merchants to trade and sell things." The fleet left for Europe on the San Jose on 10 June. Hasekura had to leave the largest parts of the Japanese group behind, who were to wait in Acapulco for the return of the embassy. Some of them, as well as those from the previous travel of Tanaka Shōsuke, returned to Japan the same year, sailing back with the San Juan Bautista: "Today, Tuesday the 14th of the month of October of the year 1614, was when some Japanese set out from