John Manjiro

The graves of Nakahama Manjirô and his relatives, at Zôshigaya Cemetery in Tokyo

• Born: 1827
• Died: 1898
• Other Names: 中濱万次郎 (Nakahama Manjirô), John Mung
• Japanese: ジョン万次郎 (Jon Manjirou)

John Manjirô is among the most famous of 19th century Japanese castaways, and one of the first Japanese to ever travel to the United States.

Originally from Nakahama village, Tosa province, Manjirô and five others in his fishing boat drifted out to sea on 1840/1/5. Dashed up upon some rocks and stranded, he survived in a cave for some time, eating mainly fish, until he was found and rescued by an American whaling ship the following year. They brought him back with them to Massachusetts, where he learned English, Western techniques of navigation, whaling, and coopering (the making of barrels), before returning to Japan in 1851. He would later serve as an interpreter during the shogunate's encounters with Commodore Perry.

Manjirô's experiences in the United States are recorded in a volume titled Hyôkyaku danki (漂客談記), which he dictated.

References

• Matt Matsuda, Pacific Worlds, Cambridge University Press (2012), 234.
• William Steele, "Goemon's New World View: Popular Representations of the Opening of Japan," Ajia bunka kenkyû 17 (1989), 73.