Trade, imprisonment and the case against execution

Summoned to court, Adams answered questions about European countries, their wars and the purpose of his voyage. He presented trade as an exchange that could enrich both sides. He nevertheless spent thirty-nine days imprisoned and feared execution. His letter accuses Portuguese and Jesuit opponents of urging that the newcomers be killed as robbers. In that account, the ruler rejected the demand because the arrivals had harmed neither him nor his country. Hostility between European nations did not supply a reason to execute them in Japan.