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The first was a three-masted Western-style sailing ship, constructed at Iso (in [[Kagoshima]]) in [[1854]], under the orders of [[Shimazu Nariakira]]. The ship was built as part of efforts by Nariakira to strengthen [[Satsuma han|Satsuma domain's]] naval defenses in light of the number of British and French ships which had begun to visit the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]].<ref>See, for example, [[Bernard Bettelheim]], and the ''[[Sabine]]'' and ''[[Alcmene]]''.</ref> In [[1851]], Nariakira had a shipyard built at Iso, measuring 100 meters long, 20 meters wide, and three meters deep. The three-masted ''Iroha-maru'' was completed at that shipyard in 1854, while another Western-style sailing ship, the ''[[Shohei-maru|Shôhei-maru]]'', was completed the same year at another Satsuma shipyard at Setomura on [[Sakurajima]].<ref>Plaques at former site of Iso shipyard, Kagoshima.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15217397191/sizes/l]</ref>

The first was a three-masted Western-style sailing ship, constructed at Iso (in [[Kagoshima]]) in [[1854]], under the orders of [[Shimazu Nariakira]]. The ship was built as part of efforts by Nariakira to strengthen [[Satsuma han|Satsuma domain's]] naval defenses in light of the number of British and French ships which had begun to visit the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]].<ref>See, for example, [[Bernard Bettelheim]], and the ''[[Sabine]]'' and ''[[Alcmene]]''.</ref> In [[1851]], Nariakira had a shipyard built at Iso, measuring 100 meters long, 20 meters wide, and three meters deep. The three-masted ''Iroha-maru'' was completed at that shipyard in 1854, while another Western-style sailing ship, the ''[[Shohei-maru|Shôhei-maru]]'', was completed the same year at another Satsuma shipyard at Setomura on [[Sakurajima]].<ref>Plaques at former site of Iso shipyard, Kagoshima.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15217397191/sizes/l]</ref>

A Western-style steamship by the same name was involved in a famous incident in [[1867]]. This ''Iroha-maru'' steamship, under the command of [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma]], crashed into a [[Kishu Tokugawa clan|Kishû Tokugawa clan]] warship in the [[Inland Sea]], just off of [[Tomonoura]] (a notable port in what is today [[Hiroshima prefecture]]). The ''Iroha-maru'' sank, and Ryôma famously engaged in negotiations with Kishû representatives, demanding reparations from them.<ref>"[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%84%E3%82%8D%E3%81%AF%E4%B8%B8%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6-888499#E6.9C.9D.E6.97.A5.E6.96.B0.E8.81.9E.E6.8E.B2.E8.BC.89.E3.80.8C.E3.82.AD.E3.83.BC.E3.83.AF.E3.83.BC.E3.83.89.E3.80.8D Irohamaru jiken]," ''Asahi Shinbun keisai'', 3 June 2011.; ''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 41.</ref>

A Western-style steam-driven sailing ship by the same name was involved in a famous incident in [[1867]]. This 100 ton ''Iroha-maru'' steamship was lent by [[Ozu han|Ôzu han]] to the [[Kaientai]] trading company for a 15-day period; under the command of [[Sakamoto Ryoma|Sakamoto Ryôma]], the ship departed [[Nagasaki]] on 1867/4/19 to transport guns, [[sugar]], and other goods to [[Osaka]]. Four days later it crashed into a [[Kishu Tokugawa clan|Kishû Tokugawa clan]] warship, the 887 ton [[Meiko-maru|Meikô-maru]]<!--明光丸-->, in the [[Inland Sea]], just off of [[Tomonoura]] (a notable port in what is today [[Hiroshima prefecture]]), late in the night on [[1867]]/4/23. This was the first maritime crash in Japan to involve a steamship.<ref name=fukuzen>Gallery labels, Fukuzen-ji, Tomonoura.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36861902612/sizes/k/]</ref>

 

The ''Meikô-maru'' began to tow the disabled ''Iroha-maru'' to Tomonoura, but the ''Iroha-maru'' sank along the way; its 32 crew and passengers were safely transported to Tomonoura aboard the Meikô-maru. Ryôma then famously engaged in negotiations with Kishû representatives, demanding reparations from them,<ref>"[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%84%E3%82%8D%E3%81%AF%E4%B8%B8%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6-888499#E6.9C.9D.E6.97.A5.E6.96.B0.E8.81.9E.E6.8E.B2.E8.BC.89.E3.80.8C.E3.82.AD.E3.83.BC.E3.83.AF.E3.83.BC.E3.83.89.E3.80.8D Irohamaru jiken]," ''Asahi Shinbun keisai'', 3 June 2011.; ''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 41.</ref> while staying for five nights at the home of Masuya Kiyoemon in Tomonoura, which has today been transformed into a small museum about the incident.<ref name=tomo>Explanatory plaques, Tomonoura harbor.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/36892137541/sizes/h/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/37032997905/sizes/h/]</ref> Kishû issued orders for the Meikô-maru to leave Tomo on 4/27, and negotiations were moved to Nagasaki.<ref name=fukuzen/>

 

For roughly a century after the shipwreck, fishermen periodically brought up [[coal]] in their nets, leading local wisdom to surmise the precise location of the shipwreck. Underwater archaeological efforts beginning in 1988 recovered a number of objects from the shipwreck, which are now on display at that same Iroha-maru museum in Tomonoura.<ref name=tomo/>

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[[Category:Ships]]

[[Category:Ships]]

[[Category:Bakumatsu]]

[[Category:Bakumatsu]]