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The Japanese community in Ayutthaya got its start around the 1570s, as Japanese ronin, merchants, smugglers, adventurers, and the like began to settle there. As early as [[1593]], there were by some accounts as many as five hundred Japanese resident in the city.<ref>Polenghi, 25.</ref> Some came to be employed by the royal court, as bodyguards, or in other capacities, and by the 1620s, Japan was Ayutthaya's most major trade partner. The head of the ''Nihonmachi'', elected by the community and approved by the court, oversaw both the community and incoming & outgoing trade, and served as liaison or representative to the court.<ref name=pol23/>

The Japanese community in Ayutthaya got its start around the 1570s, as Japanese ronin, merchants, smugglers, adventurers, and the like began to settle there. As early as [[1593]], there were by some accounts as many as five hundred Japanese resident in the city.<ref>Polenghi, 25.</ref> Some came to be employed by the royal court, as bodyguards, or in other capacities, and by the 1620s, Japan was Ayutthaya's most major trade partner. The head of the ''Nihonmachi'', elected by the community and approved by the court, oversaw both the community and incoming & outgoing trade, and served as liaison or representative to the court.<ref name=pol23/>

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/><ref>Polenghi, 41.</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]]. Some 70 Siamese officials 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 an invented [[Year dates|reign/era name]] rather than offend the Japanese by using the Ming reign name, and that they were written on sheets of gold, delivered in a holder carved from an elephant tusk.<ref>Polenghi, 41-43.</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>

A series of court intrigues, and a violent ''coup d'état'', led to the destruction of the ''Nihonmachi'', and the death of Yamada Nagamasa, in [[1630]]. Yamada Nagamasa had served for some time as head of the royal bodyguard, had led a force of some 700 Japanese in suppressing insurrections, Burmese incursions, and the like, and had been elevated to high court rank. He had also been named governor of several provinces, and held monopolies over the trade in deerskin and a number of other goods.<ref>Wray, William. “The 17th Century Japanese Diaspora: Questions of Boundary and Policy.” Thirteenth International Economic History Congress, Buenos Aires 2002. Preconference: Corfu, Greece, 21-22 September 2001, 10.</ref> The community prepared and shipped some 150,000 skins a year.<ref name=pol23/> He thus represented a significant obstacle to [[Prasat Thong]], a member of the royal family who seized the throne in [[1629]] following the death of King Songtham. In the course of his ''coup'', Prasat Thong had Yamada murdered, and the ''Nihonmachi'' burned to the ground, in order to prevent Yamada's fellow Japanese from seeking violent retribution. A number of Japanese fled to Cambodia, and some returned later, with amnesty from a later king.<ref>[[Iwao Seiichi]]. “Reopening of the diplomatic and commercial relations between Japan and Siam during the Tokugawa period.” ''Acta Asiatica'' v.4 (July 1963), 2-4.</ref> Where the Japanese had previously exercised some degree of influence within the royal court, and the port's commerce, this now left the Dutch and Chinese merchants in a far more prominent position.<ref>Gunn, 224.</ref>

A series of court intrigues, and a violent ''coup d'état'', led to the destruction of the ''Nihonmachi'', and the death of Yamada Nagamasa, in [[1630]]. Yamada Nagamasa had served for some time as head of the royal bodyguard, had led a force of some 700 Japanese in suppressing insurrections, Burmese incursions, and the like, and had been elevated to high court rank. He had also been named governor of several provinces, and held monopolies over the trade in deerskin and a number of other goods.<ref>Wray, William. “The 17th Century Japanese Diaspora: Questions of Boundary and Policy.” Thirteenth International Economic History Congress, Buenos Aires 2002. Preconference: Corfu, Greece, 21-22 September 2001, 10.</ref> The community prepared and shipped some 150,000 skins a year.<ref name=pol23/> He thus represented a significant obstacle to [[Prasat Thong]], a member of the royal family who seized the throne in [[1629]] following the death of King Songtham. In the course of his ''coup'', Prasat Thong had Yamada murdered, and the ''Nihonmachi'' burned to the ground, in order to prevent Yamada's fellow Japanese from seeking violent retribution. A number of Japanese fled to Cambodia, and some returned later, with amnesty from a later king.<ref>[[Iwao Seiichi]]. “Reopening of the diplomatic and commercial relations between Japan and Siam during the Tokugawa period.” ''Acta Asiatica'' v.4 (July 1963), 2-4.</ref> Where the Japanese had previously exercised some degree of influence within the royal court, and the port's commerce, this now left the Dutch and Chinese merchants in a far more prominent position.<ref>Gunn, 224.</ref>