Ayutthaya (not far from present-day Bangkok Thailand) is said to have had a Japanese population of 1500 individuals at the climax of the community's size and strength, in the 1620s. The kingdom only began trading with Japan around 1570, though it had been actively engaged in commerce with the kingdom of Ryūkyū a short distance to Japan's south, for over one hundred years. This time also marked the beginning of the Japanese community in Ayutthaya, among the most distant ports from Japan with which the Japanese traded in the early modern period. Japanese "adventurers", mostly ronin fleeing Japan and seeking their fortunes overseas, were welcomed by the kings of Ayutthaya, and more than a few were employed by the royal government as bodyguards, soldiers, and in other capacities. The kingdom engaged frequently in conflict with Burma, and many of these samurai soldiers served the court in battle. The kings also engaged in formal relations with the Tokugawa shōguns, receiving shipments of arms and munitions among many other trade items. By the 1620s, Japan was Ayutthaya's most major trading partner, as over twenty Japanese merchant houses, along with many independent adventurers and traders, engaged in commercial shipping between Ayutthaya and Nagasaki every year.