Soon after however, he received messages from William Adams on behalf of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who wished to establish direct trade contacts with New Spain.

On 30 September 1609, on his way back to New Spain, Rodrigo's ship, the San Francisco became shipwrecked in Japan with a crew of 373, near Iwawada in Kazusa Province (today Onjuku, Chiba).

[citation needed] They were also accompanied by the Franciscan Father Alonso Muños, who was the official envoy of Tokugawa Ieyasu to negotiate trade with the Spanish authorities.

[citation needed] During his stay, Rodrigo established a treaty with the Japanese, offering extraterritorial privileges for a Spanish shipyard and a naval base in eastern Japan in exchange for transpacific trade and Mexican silver mining technology.

He left for Japan on 22 March 1611, and after another shipwreck would eventually return in 1613 on board the Japanese-built galleon San Juan Bautista with the first official Japanese embassy to the Americas and Europe, led by Hasekura Tsunenaga.