Portugal / Japan: Fernão Mendes Pinto, Portuguese traveller and writer (1509-1583). Netsuke carving in ivory by Yomeisai, mid-19th century

Fernão Mendes Pinto (c.1509 — 8 July 1583) was a Portuguese explorer and writer. His exploits are known through the posthumous publication of his memoir Pilgrimage (Portuguese: Peregrinação) in 1614, an autobiographical work the accuracy of which has sometimes been called into question.

In the course of his travels in the Middle and Far East, Pinto visited Ethiopia, the Arabian Sea, China, India, Burma, Siam and Japan. He claimed to have been among the first group of Europeans to visit Japan and initiate the Nanban trade period.

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