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Ayutthaya made a habit of having foreigners as royal guards, and the Japanese were preceded by the Portuguese, with whom the kingdom signed a treaty in [[1516]]; some 120 Portuguese were hired by the king in [[1534]] to serve as members of his guard. The Portuguese were followed by the Japanese, who were then followed in turn by Chams and Malays as the dominant group within the Siamese royal guard.<ref>Polenghi, 22.</ref> More than twenty Japanese merchant houses, along with some number of independent individual sailors, were active in trading between Ayutthaya and Nagasaki each year, and the kingdom enjoyed formal relations with the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, beginning in [[1606]], and received arms and other supplies from the shogunate to aid in Ayutthaya's defense against periodic [[Burma|Burmese]] attacks.<ref>Khien Theeravit. “Japanese-Siamese Relations, 1606-1629” in Chaiwat Khamchoo and E. Bruce Reynolds (eds.) ''Thai-Japanese Relations in Historical Perspective''. Bangkok: Innomedia Co. Ltd. Press (1988), 22, 26-27.</ref> Following an unofficial mission which nevertheless was received in audience by the shogun in [[1612]], Ayutthaya sent official diplomatic missions to Japan in [[1616]], [[1621]], [[1623]], [[1625]], [[1626]], and [[1629]].<ref name=gunn222/> These missions followed a similar form to that which would later become standard for [[Ryukyuan embassy to Edo|Ryukyuan]] and [[Korean embassies to Edo]]. Two Siamese envoys, accompanied by some 20 Siamese officials, and another 40 or so Japanese associates, for a total entourage of roughly 70 individuals, traveled to Kyoto or Edo, where they were lodged at a Buddhist temple. They were received by the shogun in audience three times in short succession during their brief stay, and presented him with extensive gifts and a formal letter from their king, receiving gifts and a formal response in return. Letters from the Siamese king were written in Chinese, in a standard format in line with [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] protocol, except with the notable exceptions of that they employed the invented [[Year dates|reign/era name]] "Ten'un" (heavenly cloud) rather than offend the Japanese by using the Ming reign name, and that they were written on sheets of gold, rolled up inside a hollowed-out elephant tusk, which was in turn placed in a decorative box wrapped in [[damask]] cloth.<ref>Polenghi, 41-43.</ref>

Ayutthaya made a habit of having foreigners as royal guards, and the Japanese were preceded by the Portuguese, with whom the kingdom signed a treaty in [[1516]]; some 120 Portuguese were hired by the king in [[1534]] to serve as members of his guard. The Portuguese were followed by the Japanese, who were then followed in turn by Chams and Malays as the dominant group within the Siamese royal guard.<ref>Polenghi, 22.</ref> More than twenty Japanese merchant houses, along with some number of independent individual sailors, were active in trading between Ayutthaya and Nagasaki each year, and the kingdom enjoyed formal relations with the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, beginning in [[1606]], and received arms and other supplies from the shogunate to aid in Ayutthaya's defense against periodic [[Burma|Burmese]] attacks.<ref>Khien Theeravit. “Japanese-Siamese Relations, 1606-1629” in Chaiwat Khamchoo and E. Bruce Reynolds (eds.) ''Thai-Japanese Relations in Historical Perspective''. Bangkok: Innomedia Co. Ltd. Press (1988), 22, 26-27.</ref> Following an unofficial mission which nevertheless was received in audience by the shogun in [[1612]], Ayutthaya sent official diplomatic missions to Japan in [[1616]], [[1621]], [[1623]], [[1625]], [[1626]], and [[1629]].<ref name=gunn222/> These missions followed a similar form to that which would later become standard for [[Ryukyuan embassy to Edo|Ryukyuan]] and [[Korean embassies to Edo]]. Two Siamese envoys, accompanied by some 20 Siamese officials, and another 40 or so Japanese associates, for a total entourage of roughly 70 individuals, traveled to Kyoto or Edo, where they were lodged at a Buddhist temple. They were received by the shogun in audience three times in short succession during their brief stay, and presented him with extensive gifts and a formal letter from their king, receiving gifts and a formal response in return. Letters from the Siamese king were written in Chinese, in a standard format in line with [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] protocol, except with the notable exceptions of that they employed the invented [[Year dates|reign/era name]] "Ten'un" (heavenly cloud) rather than offend the Japanese by using the Ming reign name, and that they were written on sheets of gold, rolled up inside a hollowed-out elephant tusk, which was in turn placed in a decorative box wrapped in [[damask]] cloth.<ref>Polenghi, 41-43.</ref>

In 1621, for example, the mission's entourage included the interpreter Itô Kyûdayû, ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'' [[Hasegawa Gonroku]], and [[Sakai]] merchant Kiya Jazaemon. They were lodged at [[Seigan-ji]] temple in [[Edo]], and met with the shogun in [[Edo castle]] in at least one formal audience, at which they presented a series of gifts, as well as a formal letter from King [[Songtham]], two addressed to the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' from Siamese officials, and one from [[Yamada Nagamasa]], head of Ayutthaya's [[Nihonmachi|Japanese community]], addressed to Hasegawa.<ref>Nagazumi Yoko. "Ayutthaya and Japan: Embassies and Trade in the Seventeenth Century." in Kennon Breazeale (ed.). ''From Japan to Arabia: Ayutthaya's Maritime Relations with Asia''. Bangkok: The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbook Project (1999), 91.</ref>

In 1621, for example, the mission's entourage included the interpreter Itô Kyûdayû, ''[[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki bugyô]]'' [[Hasegawa Gonroku]], and [[Sakai]] merchant Kiya Jazaemon. They were lodged at [[Seigan-ji]] temple in [[Edo]], and met with the shogun in [[Edo castle]] in at least one formal audience, at which they presented a series of gifts, as well as a formal letter from King [[Songtham]], two addressed to the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'' from Siamese officials, and one from [[Yamada Nagamasa]], head of Ayutthaya's [[Nihonmachi|Japanese community]], addressed to Hasegawa. The logistical and ritual precedents set by this mission were employed as standard protocols for all those which came afterward.<ref>Nagazumi Yoko. "Ayutthaya and Japan: Embassies and Trade in the Seventeenth Century." in Kennon Breazeale (ed.). ''From Japan to Arabia: Ayutthaya's Maritime Relations with Asia''. Bangkok: The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbook Project (1999), 91-92.</ref>

In [[1610]], King [[Ekathotsarot]] was succeeded by [[Songtham]]; that same year, the kingdom suppressed a Laotian invasion and an uprising by Japanese merchants, and established a royal guard consisting of Japanese. This guard eventually came to be headed by the ronin adventurer [[Yamada Nagamasa]]. Other Nagasaki merchants were similarly rewarded for their service in helping defend the kingdom from Burmese invasions. [[Kiya Kyuzaemon|Kiya Kyûzaemon]] was appointed to succeed [[Arima Sugihiro]] as head of the ''Nihonmachi'', and Tsuda Matazaemon was permitted to marry a daughter of the king.<ref name=gunn222/><ref>Polenghi, 40.</ref>

In [[1610]], King [[Ekathotsarot]] was succeeded by [[Songtham]]; that same year, the kingdom suppressed a Laotian invasion and an uprising by Japanese merchants, and established a royal guard consisting of Japanese. This guard eventually came to be headed by the ronin adventurer [[Yamada Nagamasa]]. Other Nagasaki merchants were similarly rewarded for their service in helping defend the kingdom from Burmese invasions. [[Kiya Kyuzaemon|Kiya Kyûzaemon]] was appointed to succeed [[Arima Sugihiro]] as head of the ''Nihonmachi'', and Tsuda Matazaemon was permitted to marry a daughter of the king.<ref name=gunn222/><ref>Polenghi, 40.</ref>