| Nishioka Yoriaki | |
| Fictional Character | |
| 1632 series POD: May, 1631 | |
| Appearance(s): | Ring of Fire III |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | United States of Europe Tokugawa shogunate(formerly) |
| Religion: | Christianity |
| Date of Birth: | Around 1608 |
| Occupation: | Samurai, Food Vendor |
| Spouse: | Momo |
| Children: | Hana |
| Relatives: | Mori (father-in-law), Kiku (mother-in-law) |
Nishioka Yoriaki was a ronin who left Japan to seek out other opportunities with several other wandering samurai under the leadership of Yamada Nagamasa in search of glory that was no longer possible under the shogunate. Their journey eventually took them to the cosmopolitan realm of the Ayutthaya Kingdom where they came under the employ of King Song Tham as members of his Japanese Royal Guard and served him loyally against the Burmese.
Yoriaki made his home in Nihonmachi, "Japanese Town" and in order to get close to the daughters of the Japanese Christians, the samurai converted to Christianity. He eventually married Momo the daughter of two Japanese Christian exiles. In 1628 Yoriaki retired from being a samurai, trading it for the life as a Japanese bento vendor with his wife which became very popular with the residents of Ayutthaya. Through his daily travels Yoriaki became fluent in the many languages of Ayutthaya such as Portuguese and Siamese. Blom, a Dutch merchant operating a shipping business with his uncle, also became a loyal customer.
In 1630, life in Ayutthaya turned for the worse when Prasat Thong usurped the throne of the kingdom by killing the old king's two sons: Cetthathirat and Athittayawong. After King Prasat Thong exiled Yamada Nagamasa from the city to rule is own private realm, the usurper attempted to commandeer a red seal ship from Japan. Its seizure was heavily resisted by the Chinese crew who were attacked by Prasat Thong's royal guards. Yoriaki along with several samurai loyal to Yamada interceded and assisted the crew. Prasat Thong seeing his rule challenged by the Japanese residents issued a violent expulsion of all Japanese people from his realm. Yoriaki and the samurai helped to defend the fleeing Japanese residents of Nihonmachi as they tried to flee to the ships from the raiding guards. Blom and his uncles came to assist with a fleet of volunteer ships to escort the Japanese exiles to Yamada's realm in hopes that the senior samurai would take arms against Prasat Thong. However Yamada refused as a concubine given to him by the king-killer seduced him and convinced him to instead cast his own people out.
Having no alternative the Japanese refugees went to Phnom Penh in the Kingdom of Khmer where Nishioka and his family were forced to eke out a miserable life in the poor kingdom. While Momo had given birth to his daughter Hana, Nishioka lost his in-laws to disease. Salvation came when Blom returned after five years. Yoriaki was happily reunited with a man who he considered a brother and learned from his of news of a wondrous place in Europe of a town called Grantville which claimed to hail from the future. It was there Blom had pleaded the Japanese refugees' case to the citizens of Grantville who agreed to accept the displaced people.
Yoriaki having gathered his fellow refugees, it was then anonymously agreed that they would journey to Europe for a better life.