1600.
William Adams, a seaman from Gillingham, Kent, was the first English adventurer to arrive in Japan.
Acting as an advisor to the Tokugawa shōgun, he was renamed Miura Anjin, granted a house and land, and spent the rest of his life in his adopted country.
He also became one of the first known foreign Samurai.

1605.
John Davis, the famous English explorer, was killed by Japanese pirates off the coast of Thailand, thus becoming the first known Englishman to be killed by a Japanese.

1613.
Following an invitation from William Adams in Japan, the English captain John Saris arrived at Hirado Island in the ship Clove with the intent of establishing a trading factory.
Adams and Saris travelled to Suruga Province where they met with Tokugawa Ieyasu at his principal residence in September before moving on to Edo where they met Ieyasu's son Hidetada.
During that meeting, Hidetada gave Saris two varnished suits of armour for King James I, today housed in the Tower of London.
On their way back, they visited Tokugawa once more, who conferred trading privileges on the English through a Red Seal permit giving them "free licence to abide, buy, sell and barter" in Japan.
The English party headed back to Hirado Island on 9 October 1613.
However, during the ten-year activity of the company between 1613 and 1623, apart from the first ship (Clove in 1613), only three other English ships brought cargoes directly from London to Japan.

1623.
The Amboyna massacre occurred.
After the incident England closed its commercial base at Hirado Island, now in Nagasaki Prefecture, without notifying Japan.
After this, the relationship ended for more than two centuries.

1639.
Tokugawa Iemitsu announced his Sakoku policy.
Only the Netherlands was permitted to retain limited trade rights.

1640.
Ureamon Eaton the son of William Eaton (a worker at the EIC post in Japan) and Kamezo (a Japanese woman), becomes the first Japanese to join Academia in England as a scholar at Trinity College Cambridge.

1673.
An English ship named "Returner" visited Nagasaki harbour, and asked for a renewal of trading relations.
But the Edo shogunate refused.
The government blamed it on the withdrawal 50 years earlier, and found it unacceptable that Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza, who was from Portugal, and favoured the Roman Catholic Church.

1808.
The Nagasaki Harbour Incident: HMS Phaeton enters Nagasaki to attack Dutch shipping.

1832.
 Otokichi, Kyukichi and Iwakichi, castaways from Aichi Prefecture, crossed the Pacific and were shipwrecked on the west coast of North America.
The three Japanese men became famous in the Pacific Northwest and probably inspired Ranald MacDonald to go to Japan.
They joined a trading ship to the UK, and later Macau.
One of them, Otokichi, took British citizenship and adopted the name John Matthew Ottoson.
He later made two visits to Japan as an interpreter for the Royal Navy.
1600. William Adams, a seaman from Gillingham, Kent, was the first English adventurer to arrive in Japan. Acting as an advisor to the Tokugawa shōgun, he was renamed Miura Anjin, granted a house and land, and spent the rest of his life in his adopted country. He also became one of the first known foreign Samurai.
1605. John Davis, the famous English explorer, was killed by Japanese pirates off the coast of Thailand, thus becoming the first known Englishman to be killed by a Japanese.
1613. Following an invitation from William Adams in Japan, the English captain John Saris arrived at Hirado Island in the ship Clove with the intent of establishing a trading factory. Adams and Saris travelled to Suruga Province where they met with Tokugawa Ieyasu at his principal residence in September before moving on to Edo where they met Ieyasu's son Hidetada. During that meeting, Hidetada gave Saris two varnished suits of armour for King James I, today housed in the Tower of London. On their way back, they visited Tokugawa once more, who conferred trading privileges on the English through a Red Seal permit giving them "free licence to abide, buy, sell and barter" in Japan. The English party headed back to Hirado Island on 9 October 1613. However, during the ten-year activity of the company between 1613 and 1623, apart from the first ship (Clove in 1613), only three other English ships brought cargoes directly from London to Japan.
1623. The Amboyna massacre occurred. After the incident England closed its commercial base at Hirado Island, now in Nagasaki Prefecture, without notifying Japan. After this, the relationship ended for more than two centuries.
1639. Tokugawa Iemitsu announced his Sakoku policy. Only the Netherlands was permitted to retain limited trade rights.
1640. Ureamon Eaton the son of William Eaton (a worker at the EIC post in Japan) and Kamezo (a Japanese woman), becomes the first Japanese to join Academia in England as a scholar at Trinity College Cambridge.
1673. An English ship named "Returner" visited Nagasaki harbour, and asked for a renewal of trading relations. But the Edo shogunate refused. The government blamed it on the withdrawal 50 years earlier, and found it unacceptable that Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza, who was from Portugal, and favoured the Roman Catholic Church.
1808. The Nagasaki Harbour Incident: HMS Phaeton enters Nagasaki to attack Dutch shipping.
1832.  Otokichi, Kyukichi and Iwakichi, castaways from Aichi Prefecture, crossed the Pacific and were shipwrecked on the west coast of North America. The three Japanese men became famous in the Pacific Northwest and probably inspired Ranald MacDonald to go to Japan. They joined a trading ship to the UK, and later Macau. One of them, Otokichi, took British citizenship and adopted the name John Matthew Ottoson. He later made two visits to Japan as an interpreter for the Royal Navy.
Japan–United Kingdom relations