From the early days of the Edo period, there had been foreigners hired for this purpose in Japan, notably Jan JOOSTEN and William ADAMS, both highly esteemed and well treated by Ieyasu TOKUGAWA, who valued them as advisers to the bakufu on foreign diplomacy or technology; there was also the example of Philipp Franz Balthasar von SIEBOLD, who was employed briefly as an adviser for the bakufu.
江戸時代初期からヤン・ヨーステンやウィリアム・アダムスなどの例があり、幕府の外交顧問や技術顧問を務め徳川家康の評価を得て厚遇されたほか、後にはフィリップ・フランツ・フォン・シーボルトなども一時期幕府顧問になったという経緯もある。