Luis Frois

Portuguese missionary born in Lisbon. In 1548, he entered the Society of Jesus, becoming a Jesuit. That same year he travelled to Goa in the Indian subcontinent and entered the seminary of St Paul. He was ordained in 1561. Two years later, at the age of 31, he sailed for Japan.
Frois first lived on Hirado in Kyushi, where he mastered the Japanese language and aspects of Japanese culture, before going up to Kyoto. He was supported by Ashikaga Yoshiteru and given a parcel of land in Bungo (Kyushu).
When Nobunaga entered Kyoto in 1569, Frois met him, and as Nobunaga was an enthusiast for imported things, he let the priest carry out his missionary work unimpeded. He was given official permission to continue residence in Kyoto, and to propagate the faith there. From 1577-81, while also administering his lands in Bungo, he travelled widely. The Jesuit Visitor (leader) Valignano told him to compile a book on Japan. In 1587, he met Hideyoshi at Osaka Castle. When the expulsion of foreign priests was commanded, he moved from place to place, until in 1590 he arrived in Nagasaki. Frois sailed for Macao with Valignano where he passed three years before returning again to Japan, where he died.