Ranald MacDonald

• Born: 1824
• Died: 1894

Ranald MacDonald was among the first Americans to enter Japan, and later served as an English teacher and interpreter.

The son of a Chinook (Native American) woman and an official of the Hudson Bay Company, MacDonald heard stories of Japanese castaways, and became intrigued to travel to Japan himself. He did so in 1848, having paid a whaler to set him off in a small boat just off the coast of Hokkaido. His boat capsized, and he was rescued by Ainu fishermen, who sent him to the samurai authorities of Matsumae han, who in turn had him sent to Nagasaki to be dealt with by the authorities there.

References

• Matt Matsuda, Pacific Worlds, University of Cambridge Press (2012), 233-