At right, the whaling ship John Howland drawn by Manjiro ajier his re/urn to Japan.
Bowditch's New American Practical Navigator. Remarkably , his life was spared and he was able to return to his village to a tearful reunion with hi s mother and the surprise of his friends. This was the beginning of turbulent times in 1853. Commodore Perry had suddenly appeared in Uraga Bay with the might of American naval ships. It was as if an apparition had appeared from the heavens and people began fleeing the capital at Yedo. During the crisis, a messenger appeared at Manj iro ' s house demanding his appearance in the capital. Manjiro 's lowly rank was quickly raised for the unprecedented circumstance. The shogun now depended on the advice of a commoner-a simple Japanese fisherman who had been educated in America. The part played in hi story by Nakahama Manjiro (his newly acquired titled name that included the right to wear two swords like a regular samurai) is learned by every Japanese schoolchild . He was the key tran slator for the negotiations between Japan and the United States. Be was rewarded with rank and honors never before bestowed upon one of such simple birth. Even his pri zed copy of Bowditch was returned and Manjiro translated the mighty tome into Japanese. He founded a school of navigation and consulted in both shipbuilding and whaling. In 1860 he navigated the Japanese ship Kanrin Maru to San Francisco with an official delegation bound for Washington DC. It was the first time the Japanese flag was displayed in a foreign port. Captain Whitfield was surely proud that his foster son was the first Japanese to navigate across the Pacific, and that he, William Whitfield , helped Manjiro acquire the knowledge to do so. In the summer of 1870 a Japanese delegation , with Manjiro as official interpreter, made its way to Europe. They sailed on the American ship Great Republic to California and rode the Union Pacific Railway across America. On reaching New York City, Manjiro made his way unannounced after almost twenty years to Sconticut Neck to a joyous reunion with Captain Whitfield, his beloved benefactor from the ship John Howland. Manjiro was to learn that the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania had crippled the business of whaling in New Bedford. Later, the captain wrote to a mutual friend in Honolulu: "John Mungero [sic] has made me a visit and he remembers you and all others that beSEA HISTORY 79, AUTUMN 1996
At righ! , the compass transla!ed from Bowditch by Manjiro. At far right , "Manjiro" in Japan ese.
friended him when he was poor ... . It is wonderful to see the workings of Providence. " Manjiro retired to hi s family in Japan and died J 2 November J 898. On the Fourth ofJuly in 1918, the Japanese Ambassador to Washington presented the town of Fairhaven with an hi storical samurai sword on behalf of the eldest son ofManjiro, in token of hi s gratitude for the kindness shown by the town to hi s father. The Ambassador also place a wreath on Captain Whitfield's grave in Riverside Cemetery. It was not until 1925 that Manjiro's remains were taken to a final place of honor in the Zoshigaya graveyard in Tokyo. Three years later the government of Japan posthumously bestowed the Fifth Court Rank , Senior Grade upon Nakahama Manjiro in appreciation of his invaluable service to his nation .
The John Howland Foundation To further friendship between America and Japan , the John Howland Foundation is preparing to reconstruct the original whaling sh ip John Howland for a
MANJIRO
commemorative voyage to Japan. The passage will follow the taxonomic family of gray whales ' migratory route north from Baja, California, along the West Coast of America to the Bering Sea. Here the ship will break her research for a yearlong good will tour of Japan. The ports of call will include Tosashimizu, the sister city of Fairhaven and New Bedford. Tosashimizu was the Tosa port from which the young Manjiro departed on the morning of the fifth of January in 1841 in search of fish, on the voyage that was to begin a bond of friendship between two nations. The replicated John Howland will again study the gray whales on her return passage along their migratory route south back to lower California. .t
Naval architect Melbourne Smith is currently designing the John Howland. For furth er information on the Manjiro Project, write to Peter Phillips, President, The John Howland Foundation , PO Box 169, Fairhaven MA 02719. . 13