Saris Expedition Imported Career-Ending Erotica

From 1611 to 1614, an English merchant named John Saris led the Clove on the first English trade expedition to Japan, where he secured permission for the East India Company to establish a trading post at Hirado. After Saris returned to England in September 1614, a cargo audit accused him of private trading, and an East India Company official named Thomas Smythe discovered his collection of Japanese erotic woodblock prints. His collection was publicly burnt, he was disgraced, and it ended his career.

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