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| − | [[Image:NakahamaJohnManjiro.jpg|thumb|Nakahama "John" Manjiro.]] | + | #REDIRECT [[Nakahama Manjirō]] |
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| − | {{japanese name|Nakahama}}
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| − | '''Nakahama Manjirō''' (中濱 万次郎 ''Nakahama Manjirō'', 1827-1898), also known as '''John Manjiro''', was one of the first [[Japan]]ese people to visit the [[United States]] and an important translator during the [[Opening of Japan]].<ref name=webber>*{{cite book
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| − | |author=Webber, Bert
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| − | |title=Wrecked Japanese Junks adrift in the North Pacific Ocean
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| − | |publisher=Ye Galleon Press
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| − | |year=1984|id=ISBN 0-87770-220X}}</ref>
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| − | ==Voyage to America==
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| − | [[Image:ManjiroMap.JPG|thumb|left|Nakahama Manjiro's report of his travels, 1850s, Tokyo National Museum.]]
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| − | During his early life, he lived as a simple [[fisherman]] in the village of Naka-no-hama, [[Tosa Province]] (now [[Tosashimizu, Kōchi|Tosashimizu]], [[Kōchi Prefecture]]). In 1841, 14 year old Nakahama Manjiro and four friends were fishing when their boat was wrecked on the island of [[Torishima (Izu Islands)|Torishima]]. The American whaler ship ''John Howland'' (Captain William H. Whitfield commanding) rescued them and, at the end of the voyage, dropped the others in [[Honolulu]]; however Manjiro (nicknamed "John Mung") wanted to stay on the ship. Captain Whitfield took him back to the United States and entrusted him to James Akin, who enrolled Manjiro in Oxford School in the town of [[Fairhaven, Massachusetts]]. The boy studied English and navigation for a year, apprenticed to a [[cooper]], and then (with Whitfield's help) signed on to the whaler ''Franklin'' (Captain Ira Davis). After whaling in the South Seas, ''Franklin'' put into Honolulu in October 1847, where Manjiro again met his four friends. None were able to return to Japan, for this was during Japan's period of isolation when leaving the country was an offense punishable by death.
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| − | When Captain Davis became ill and was left in Manila, the crew elected a new captain and Manjiro was made First Mate. ''Franklin'' returned to [[New Bedford]] in September 1849 and paid off; Manjiro was self-sufficient with $350 in his pocket.
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| − | Manjiro promptly set out by sea for the [[California Gold Rush]] by ship. Arriving in [[San Francisco]] in May 1850, he took a steamboat up the [[Sacramento River]], then a train into the mountains. In a few months, he made about $600 and decided to find a way back to Japan.
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| − | ==Return to Japan==
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| − | Manjiro arrived in Honolulu and found two of his companions were willing to go with him. He purchased a whaleboat, the ''Adventure'', which was loaded aboard the bark ''Sarah Boyd'' (Captain Whitmore) along with gifts from the people of Honolulu. They sailed on [[December 17]], [[1850]] and reached [[Okinawa]] on [[February 2]], [[1851]]. The three were promptly taken into custody, although treated with courtesy. After months of questioning, they were released in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] and eventually returned home to Tosa where Lord Yamanouchi Toyonobu awarded them pensions. Manjiro was appointed a minor official and became a valuable source of information.
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| − | In September 1853, Manjiro was summoned to [[Edo]] (now known as Tokyo), questioned by the national government, and made a [[hatamoto]] (a samurai in direct service to the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogun]]). He would now give interviews only in service to the government. In token of his new status, he would wear two swords, and needed a surname; he chose ''Nakahama'', after his home village.
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| − | ==Service as ''hatamoto''==
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| − | Manjiro detailed his travels in a report to the [[Bakufu]], which is kept today at the Tokyo National Museum. In 1853, when Commodore [[Matthew Perry (naval officer)|Matthew Perry]]'s [[Black Ships]] arrived to force the opening of Japan, Manjiro became an interpreter and translator for the Shogunate and was instrumental in negotiating the [[Convention of Kanagawa]].
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| − | However, it appears that he did not contact the Americans directly at that time.
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| − | [[Image:Kanrin Maru members.jpg|thumb|Members of the Japanese delegation to the United States in 1860, who sailed on the ''[[Kanrin Maru]]'' and the USS ''Powhatan''.]]
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| − | In 1860, Nakahama Manjiro participated in the [[Japanese Embassy to the United States (1860)]]. He was appointed translator on board [[Japanese warship Kanrin Maru|''Kanrin Maru'']], Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, purchased from the Dutch. Due to Japan's former policy of isolation, the crew had little experience on the open ocean, and during a storm, her Captain Katsu, Admiral Kimura and much of the crew fell ill. Manjiro was put in charge and brought the ship to port safely.
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| − | In 1870, during the [[Franco-Prussian War]], Manjiro studied military science in Europe. He returned to Japan by way of the United States. He was formally received at Washington D.C., and he took advantage of this opportunity by traveling overland to [[Fairhaven, Massachusetts]] to visit his "foster father", Captain Whitfield. Eventually, Manjiro became a professor at the [[University of Tokyo]].
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| − | ==Legacy==
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| − | Manjiro apparently used his know-how of western shipbuilding to contribute to the effort of the [[Bakufu]] to build a modern Navy. He translated [[Bowditch's American Practical Navigator]] into Japanese, and taught English, naval tactics and whaling techniques. He allegedly contributed to the construction of the [[Japanese warship Shohei Maru|''Shohei Maru'']], Japan's first post-seclusion foreign-style warship.
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| − | Manjiro was married three times and had seven children. In 1918, his eldest son, Dr. Toichiro Nakahama, donated a valuable sword to Fairhaven in token of his father's rescue and the kindness of the town. It continued to be displayed in the town library even during World War Two.
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| − | Among his accomplishments, Manjiro was probably the first Japanese to ride a railroad, in a steamship, to officer an American vessel, and to command a trans-Pacific voyage.
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| − | There is a great statue of Manjiro Nakahama at [[Cape Ashizuri]], on [[Shikoku]]. In Fairhaven, the Manjiro Historic Friendship Society is renovating William Whitfield's home to include a museum dealing with the Manjiro legacy.<ref name=southcoasttoday>*{{cite web
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| − | |author=Medeiros, Michael
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| − | |title=Preserving the Manjiro Legacy
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| − | |url=http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061208/NEWS/70308147/-1/SPECIAL02
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| − | |publisher=South Coast Today
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| − | |accessdate=June 18|accessyear=2008
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| − | |date=December 8, 2006}}</ref>
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | * [[Hasekura Tsunenaga]], the first recorded Japanese to reach the American continent, in 1614
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| − | * [[Otokichi]], a famous Japanese castaway to the United States, ten years before Nakahama Manjiro
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| − | * [[Einosuke Moriyama]], another translator in the negotiation with Perry
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| − | * [[Ranald MacDonald]], the first teacher of English in Japan
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| − | * [[Shimazu Nariakira]]
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| − | == References ==
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| − | {{Reflist}}
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | * [http://www.manjiro.org/ The Manjiro Society]
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| − | {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakahama, Manjiro}}
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| − | [[Category:1827 births]]
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| − | [[Category:1898 deaths]]
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| − | [[Category:Japanese translators]]
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| − | [[Category:Castaways]]
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| − | [[Category:People from Kōchi Prefecture]]
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| − | [[fr:Nakahama Manjirō]]
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| − | [[ko:존 만지로]]
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| − | [[ja:ジョン万次郎]]
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