John Manjiro Statue

Best Attractions and Places to See in Tosashimizu, Japan

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List of Best Things to do in Tosashimizu, Japan

Cape Ashizuri
Tatsukushi Coast
Hakusan Domon
Kongofukuji Temple
Minokoshikaigan
Oki Coast
John Manjiro Memorial Monument
Hakusan Domon Lookout Manjiro Ashiyu
Ryugu Shrine
Tojindaiba Ruins

The Story of Five Japanese Castaways: A Historic Voyage to the United States (2004)

Nakahama Manjirō (中濱 万次郎?, January 27, 1827 – November 12, 1898), also known as John Manjirō (or John Mung), was one of the first Japanese people to visit the United States and an important translator during the Opening of Japan.

During his early life, he lived as a simple fisherman in the village of Naka-no-hama, Tosa Province (now Tosashimizu, Kōchi Prefecture). In 1841, 14-year-old Nakahama Manjirō and four friends (all brothers, named Goemon, Denzo, Toraemon, and Jusuke) were fishing when their boat was wrecked on the island of Torishima. The American whaler ship John Howland (with Captain William H. Whitfield in command) rescued them.[3] At the end of the voyage, four of them were left in Honolulu; however Manjirō (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 Manjirō in the 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, the Franklin put into Honolulu in October 1847, where Manjirō 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.

When Captain Davis became mentally ill and was left in Manila, the crew elected a new captain, and Manjirō was made Harpooner. The Franklin returned to New Bedford, Massachusetts in September 1849 and paid-off its crew; Manjirō was self-sufficient, with $350 in his pocket.

Manjirō promptly set out by sea for the California Gold Rush. Arriving in San Francisco in May 1850, he took a steamboat up the Sacramento River, then went into the mountains. In a few months, he made about $600 and decided to find a way back to Japan.

Manjirō arrived in Honolulu and found two of his companions were willing to go with him. (Toraemon, who thought it would be too risky, and Jusuke, who died of a heart ailment, did not voyage back to Japan.) 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 and eventually returned home to Tosa where Lord Yamauchi Toyoshige awarded them pensions. Manjirō was appointed a minor official and became a valuable source of information.

In September 1853, Manjirō was summoned to Edo (now known as Tokyo), questioned by the shogunate government, and made a hatamoto (a samurai in direct service to the 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.