Most of the Japanese living in Ayutthaya had to face the 1622 disaster. According to the diary of a Dutch merchant, an accidental fire originated in one of the houses in the Nihonmachi and burnt the whole enclave to the ground. It must have been a big conflagration, since the Dutch reported that their factory, which was located north of the Japanese enclave, separated by a canal, was burnt down as well.
This was the first of three great fires recorded between 1622 and 1633. If we accept the fact that the Japanese lived in Siamese-style houses, it means that these were easily rebuilt – as a French observer recorded – in less than two days.
The fires were probably the calamities that have deprived us of most of the physical evidence of the Japanese presence in Ayutthaya during Nagamasa’s days, in addition to the destruction at the hands of the Burmese who came in the 18th century.
Resources: “Samurai of Ayutthaya – The Historical Landscape of
Early 17th Century Japan and Siam: Yamada Nagamasa
and the Way to Ayutthaya” by Cesare Polenghi (p. 44-45)
