Wouko, or “Japanese pirates”—often composed of substantial…
December 1557 CE
Wouko, or “Japanese pirates”—often composed of substantial Chinese militia, merchants and smugglers, in addition to Japanese soldiers, ronin, merchants and smugglers—shipwreck Pinto’s trading expedition in the Gulf of Siam, where they make landfall on the coast of Java.
Here they resort to cannibalism in order to survive, and those that do survive (including Pinto) sell themselves into slavery in return for passage out of the swamplands.
Their owner-captors now sell them to a Celebes merchant, who resells them to the King of Kalapa, (modern-day Jakarta).
After hearing their stories, he generously sends them on a ship to Sunda, whence they had previously departed.