The Remarkable Life of a Tosa Fisherman by Melbourne Smith Log book of the Whaling Ship John Howland, Sunday, June 27 , 1841: "This day windsji-om S.E. Isle in sight I p.m. Sent two boats to see if any turtle, found 5 poor distressed people on the isle, took them ojj; could not understand anything from them more than they were hungry. Made the latitude of the isle 30 deg. 31 m. N." ive hapless Japanese fishermen were rescued that day. They had lost everything in a fierce storm and had been marooned on Torijima Island southeast of Honshu, Japan, for 143 days. The American whalerJohnHowland, 377 tons, of New Bedford, happened upon the castaways and the men swam through the surf to the waiting whale boats and the safety of a ship that was larger and stranger than they had ever imagined. William H . Whitfield was master of the John Howland and he saw that the men were given medical attention, food and clothing. The youngest, Manjirofrom Tosa (dubbed John Mung by the crew), was just fourteen and he took great interest in whaling, to the delight of the captain. When the vessel reached the Sandwich Islands, fourofthe fishermen were left in the care of the authorities but the boy Manjiro chose to continue with the whaling voyage all the way to New Bedford, Massachusetts. He had become a favorite on board and he was taken to live with the captain and his wife on their Sconticut Neck farm and on Cherry Street in Fairhaven , a town across the Acushnet River from New Bedford. Manjiro became fluent in English and was enro lled in the Oxford School on Farm Lane , 1 attended the Unitarian Church, studied navigation at Bartlett' s Academy nearthe bridge leading to New Bedford, and was apprenticed to learn coopering. He was also entrusted to help Mrs. Whitfield when Captain Whitfield embarked on another whaling voyage. In 1846, a boom year for whaling, Manjiro joined the ship Franklin but not before penning a verse on a May Day basket for a yo ung girl named Catherine Morten. Many years later when the spinster Miss Morten was in her eighties, she recalled her timid admirer's written
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The school and Captain Whitfield ' s house at 11 Cherry Street sti ll exist in Fairhaven. In 1988, Emperor Akihito of Japan (then crown prince) and hi s wife visited Fairhaven to see the historic structures and to view the Manjiro NakahamaCollection in the Millicent Library.
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A sketch of Manjiro signaling the John Howlandji·om Torijima Island, 1841.
words: " 'Tis in the chilly night, A basket you ' ve got hung. Get up and strike a light! See me run, But no take chase me." The Franklin cruised in Pacific waters close to Japan but was unable to land Manjiro. He did , however, have a joyous reunion with his rescued fishing companions when the ship called at Honolulu in 1848. He returned to Fairhaven in September 1849 with a successful net earning of$350for his three years' work. Gold had been found in California and Manjiro made his way west on a lumber
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schooner around Cape Horn and arrived in San Francisco at the end of May 1850. He quickly took a steamer up the Sacramento River to the gold fields. It was a rough time for the young foreigner but he managed to earn $6000 and saved several go ld nuggets-the largest of which he held for his mother. He longed to return to his home in fear that his mother might be punished for his absence. Manjiro soon found passage on the steamer Elisha bound for Honolulu. He knew that his return to Japan might well cost him his head. Japan was a completely closed society at that time and the authorities wanted no intercourse with their countrymen once tainted by foreigners. Nevertheless, Manjiro, with two of the original three castaways sti ll living in Hawaii, fitted out a small boat which they named Adventurer. The three agreed to work their passage on the ship Sarah Boyd bound for Chi na; the captain promised to set them adrift in their boat when he neared Japan. As planned , the sma ll craft was lowered as they approached Ryukyu Island and they spent a hectic night at sea before finally beaching their craft on Japanese soil. Once ashore, the trio was promptly arrested, and they spent many months in prisons before being tried. All of Manjiro's possessions had been seized including the gold nugget intended for his aging mother and a cherished copy of SEA HISTORY 79, AUTUMN 1996