was too ill to actually carry this out, and the Duke of Lerma – the main administrator of Phillip III's rule and the de facto ruler of Spain – was designated as Hasekura's godfather. The embassy traveled across Spain during the summer of 1615 at royal expense. They eventually received permission to travel for Rome in August, and left at the beginning of the same month. France After traveling across Spain, the embassy sailed on the Mediterranean aboard three Spanish frigates towards Italy. Due to bad weather, they had to stay for a few days in the French harbour of Saint-Tropez, where they were received by the local nobility, and made quite a sensation on the populace. The visit of the Japanese Embassy is recorded in the city's chronicles as led by "Philip Francis Faxicura, Ambassador to the Pope, from Date Masamune, Lord of the Sendai Domain, Mutsu Province, Japan". Many picturesque details of their movements were recorded: "They never touch food with their fingers, but instead use two small sticks that they hold with three fingers." "They blow their noses in soft silky papers the size of a hand, which they never use twice, so that they throw them on the ground after usage, and they were delighted to see our people around them precipitate themselves to pick them up." "Their swords cut so well that they can cut a soft paper just by putting it on the edge and by blowing on it." The visit of Hasekura Tsunenaga to Saint-Tropez in 1615 is the first recorded instance of France–Japan relations. Italy The Japanese Embassy arrived at Rome on 20 September 1615 and was received by Cardinal Burgecio; the delegation met Pope Paul V on 3 November. Hasekura remitted to the Pope two gilded letters, one in Japanese and one in Latin, containing a request for a trade treaty between Japan and Mexico and the dispatch of Christian missionaries to Japan. These letters are still visible in the Vatican archives. The Latin letter, probably written by Luis Sotelo for Date Masamune, reads, in part: Kissing the Holy feet of the Great, Universal, Most Holy Lord of The Entire World, Pope Paul, in profound submission and reverence, I, Idate Masamune, King of Wōshū in the Empire of Japan, suppliantly say: The Franciscan Padre Luis Sotelo came to our country to spread the faith of God. On that occasion, I learnt