The Luzones were also instrumental in guiding Portuguese ships to discover Japan. The Western world first heard of Japan through the Portuguese. But it was through the Luzones that the Portuguese had their first encounter with the Japanese. The Portuguese king commissioned his subjects to get good pilots that could guide them beyond the seas of China and Malacca. In 1540, the Portuguese king's factor in Brunei, Brás Baião, recommended to his king the employment of Lusung pilots because of their reputation as "discoverers."Bayao, Bras, Letter to the king dated Goa November 1, 1540, Archivo Nacional de Torre de Tombo: Corpo Cronologico, parte 1, maco 68, doc. 63, courtesy of William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 194. Thus it was through Luzones navigators that Portuguese ships found their way to Japan in 1543. The Luzones so impressed the Portuguese soldier, Joao de Barros, he considered the Luzones who were militarily and commercially active across the region, "the most warlike and valiant of these parts."The Mediterranean Connection by William Henry Scott Page 138 (Published By: Ateneo de Manila University) Taken from "Translated in Teixera, The Portuguese Missions, p. 166." Filipinos from the island of Luzon (Lucoes) were not the only Filipinos abroad, historian William Henry Scott, quoting the Portuguese manuscript Summa Orientalis, noted that Mottama in Burma (Myanmar) had a large presence of merchants from the island of Mindanao. Quoting from; Cortes 30, Suma, pp. 376–77, and 362.
The Luzones were also instrumental in guiding Portuguese ships to discover Japan. The Western world first heard of Japan through the Portuguese. But it was through the Luzones that the Portuguese had their first encounter with the Japanese. The Portuguese king commissioned his subjects to get good pilots that could guide them beyond the seas of China and Malacca. In 1540, the Portuguese king's factor in Brunei, Brás Baião, recommended to his king the employment of Lusung pilots because of their reputation as "discoverers."Bayao, Bras, Letter to the king dated Goa November 1, 1540, Archivo Nacional de Torre de Tombo: Corpo Cronologico, parte 1, maco 68, doc. 63, courtesy of William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 194. Thus it was through Luzones navigators that Portuguese ships found their way to Japan in 1543. Th?e Luzones so impressed the Portuguese soldier, Joao de Barros, he considered the Luzones who were militarily and commercially active across the region, "the most warlike and valiant of these parts."The Mediterranean Connection by William Henry Scott Page 138 (Published By: Ateneo de Manila University) Taken from "Translated in Teixera, The Portuguese Missions, p. 166." Filipinos from the island of Luzon (Lucoes) were not the only Filipinos abroad, historian William Henry Scott, quoting the Portuguese manuscript Summa Orientalis, noted that Mottama in Burma (Myanmar) had a large presence of merchants from the island of Mindanao. Quoting from; Cortes 30, Suma, pp. 376–77, and 362.