(b. 1565?) was a Japanese merchant from the port of Sakai

Sakai, Osaka

is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the Medieval era.Following the February 2005 annexation of the town of Mihara, from Minamikawachi District, the city has grown further and is now the fourteenth most populous city in...

, who emigrated to Cambodia in the final years of the 16th century.

Originally known as Naya Sukezaemon (納屋助左衛門), he was the son of Sakai merchant Naya Saisuke. He changed his name in 1593 or 1594 after returning from a trip to Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

 in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. He became successful and wealthy in the South Seas trade, particularly from selling porcelains to Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

 and other powerful lords. It is said that even the great tea master Sen no Rikyū

Sen no Rikyu

, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of wabi-cha...

 prized some of the tea wares brought back from Southeast Asia by Sukezaemon. Sukezaemon built himself a lavish Western-style house in Sakai and lived a rather luxurious lifestyle for several years before attracting the attention and the ire of Hideyoshi. In 1598, the warlord accused the merchant on bogus charges, and confiscated all his possessions; Sukezaemon entrusted his home to his family's temple, the Daian-ji

Daian-ji

was founded during the Asuka period and is one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, Japan.-History:The Nihon Shoki records the founding of the , predecessor of the Daian-ji, in 639 during the reign of Emperor Jomei. A nine story pagoda was added shortly afterwards...

, and fled Japan for Cambodia.

Very little is known about Sukezaemon from original sources, but like many merchant sailors and maritime adventurers of the period, a number of legends have arisen about him. He has been conflated with the pirate Tai Fusa who attacked Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 some years earlier and was defeated; according to some tales, when Sukezaemon left Japan he took one hundred men with him and led a raid or assault on Manila, but was ultimately forced to flee to Cambodia. Other sources omit the piracy and violence and indicate simply that he remained in Manila until, around 1607, the Spanish began to interfere in the Philippines, and Sukezaemon fled to Cambodia, where he earned the trust of the local authorities and began to trade once more. Other sources claim that he was also involved with the Sakai merchant's conspiracy with the descendants of the noble families of the kingdoms of Maynila and Luzon, which was crushed.

He is buried at the Daian-ji in Sakai, and bronze statues of him can be seen in that city, and in Manila as well. He appeared in a novel by Saburō Shiroyama, and in a 1978 Taiga drama

Taiga drama

is the name NHK gives to the annual, year-long historical fiction television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shōroku and Takarazuka star Awashima Chikage, the network has hired a producer, director, writer, music...

 called Ōgon no Hibi.