Looking Back 1840: Shipwrecked Japanese in Hawaii

I was recently perusing the microfiche copies of The Polynesian at the Hawaii State Library. This publication was considered the "official voice" of the Hawaiian royal government starting in 1840.

It was in the June 6, 1840 edition of this paper that I found one of -if not the first published story- of shipwrecked Japanese in the Hawaiian Islands. In subsequent editions there are longer, much more detailed stories which at least for now I've not transcribed.

SHIPWRECKED JAPANESE

There are in town, under the care of Dr. Judd, four Japanese who were taken by a whaleship from the wreck of a junk, on which they had been driven about, by wind and wave, for many months and suffered great hardships.

Their story is full of interest, and which we hope to receive for a future number, from Dr. Baldwin of Maui, in whose family the most intelligent of their number has resided for some time.

They are now here with the hope of obtaining a passage to their own country, either by way of Kamschatka, or through the Expedition.

Some of the coin which they brought with them is in circulation in the village, consisting of gold and silver pieces, of an oblong shape, from the value of a real to four dollars, and very neatly stamped.

'Castaway Becomes Ship’s Captain'

This is the third and final of the Star Bulletin stories I found this past weekend at the Hawaii State Library. This story provides some details of the life of John Manjiro, who I have posted about before in this history blog.

Castaway Becomes Ship’s Captain

Star Bulletin: Thursday, September 22, 1960. Page 24.

‘Voyager to Destiny’

The dramatic story of John Manjiro Nakahama is told by Emily V. Warinner, a former Star Bulletin staff member, in her book, ‘Voyager to Destiny.’

(Click here for the Google Books edition online and Archive.org)

On February 10, 1860, Japan’s first modern man-of-war, the Kanrin Maru, left the port of Uraga, Japan, for San Francisco.

The ship was commanded by John Manjiro Nakahama, who had been marooned as a young man on a desert island in 1841.

After he was rescued by men aboard a New England whaling ship, Manjiro was taken to Hawaii, then to New Bedford, Massachusetts.

There he studied English, received instructions in vocational education and the art of navigation.

In Ocober, 1849, Nakahama left for Japan by way of Hawaii and the Ryukyus. When he returned home after 12 years absence, his mother welcomed him with tears. She had given him up for dead and had built a tomb in his memory.

It was this same Manjiro who, a year after his return, was to serve as interpreter during negotiations between the United States and Japan that led to the opening of Japan to the outside world.

It was exactly a hundred years ago this year that Nakahama returned to Honolulu as Captain Manjiro of the Kanrin Maru.

Reports indicate Nakahama probably was the first Japanese to acquire a knowledge of the English language.

'Family Owns Heirlooms of Early-Day Interpreter'

In my previous post I mentioned that in September, 1960 then-Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko came to Hawaii. The occasion was the 100^th anniversary of the arrival here of the Japanese Embassy on the USS Powhatan, but also commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the arrival of the first large group of immigrants from Japan. They came to work in the sugar plantations.

Below is the text from a story I found in the Thursday, September 22, 1960 edition of Honolulu’s Star Bulletin. A picture that I was not able to reproduce shows “The mother of Mrs. Chiyo Izumi is shown with her grandparents." It turns out that Mrs. Izumi featured here is the granddaughter of Gohachiro Namura, who served as an interpreter with the Japanese ambassadors:

Family Owns Heirlooms of Early-Day Interpreter

Star Bulletin. Honolulu, Thursday, September 22, 1960

Items once owned by Japan’s chief interpreter in the United States-Japanese commercial treaty ratification of 1860 are treasured heirlooms of a Honolulu family.

The interpreter was Gohachiro Namura, who went with the Japanese diplomatic delegation to Washington, D.C., 100 years ago.

The owner of the heirlooms is Namura’s granddaughter Mrs. Chiyo Izumi, 70, who lives at 2719-C Laniloa Road, Pacific Heights.

Namura, originally a Dutch interpreter, learned English from a Scotsman in Nagasaki, Japan.

Among Mrs. Izumi’s possessions are Namura’s wallet, a medicine case about the size of a cigarette lighter, scraps of writings and pictures of Gohachiro Namura and his family.

Mrs. Izumi and her husband, Chomatsu, have lived here since 1947 when they moved from San Francisco.

"A Friendship That Grows"

Over this past weekend I was at the Hawaii State Library perusing the microfiche records of Honolulu’s Star Bulletin, today known as the Star Advertiser.

In September, 1960 Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko (now Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko) came to Hawaii. The occasion was the 100^th anniversary of the arrival here of the Japanese Embassy on the USS Powhatan, but also commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the arrival of the first large group of immigrants from Japan. They came to work in the sugar plantations.

Virtually nothing was substantively reported on the Japanese Embassy. More coverage was given to the arrival of the Japanese sugar workers. This somewhat surprises me, given the visit by members of the imperial family from Japan.

Below is the text from various stories mentioning the first Japanese diplomatic mission from 1860.

A Friendship That Grows

Star Bulletin: Thursday, September 22, 1960

A century ago, Hawaii, then an independent kingdom, entertained representatives of Japan on their way to Washington to sign a treaty of commerce and amity with the United States.

Today, Hawaii, now a full partner in the sisterhood of states, welcomes with even more enthusiasm than that displayed 100 years ago the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan, on a good-will state visit commemorating the important centennial.

Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko also will help celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the arrival of the first large group of immigrants from Japan to work in Hawaii’s booming sugar industry. Sugar had made rapid gains after King Kalakaua negotiated a trade treaty with the United States in 1875.

The contribution of the Japanese to Hawaii’s growth is self-evident. Today the children and grandchildren of the early immigrants are among the business, professional and civic leaders of the community, and hold positions of high trust in our government.

Hawaii has been charmed by Prince Akihito before. He won our hearts in 1953 as a modest youth of 19. Today and tomorrow we expect to be charmed also by his attractive young princess, whose marriage into the royal family attracted almost as much notice in this country as it did in Japan.

The Japanese royal coupe will find Hawaii hospitable and friendly, eager to make their visit as pleasant as possible. For they are more than a personable young couple, they are symbols of a people with whom Hawaii has inseparable links.

Research Update

It's been a while since I blogged on this site. Summer has hardly been a time of rest and calm repose on my end. If anything, this has been one of the busiest summer seasons in years. As my friends will attest, I find it better to be productively busy than bored.

Starting this week I will be on a sabbatical of sorts from my teaching duties at Hawaii Tokai International College. This is my first break in five years. I have joined the adjunct faculty of the University of Hawaii's Kapiolani Community College Arts and Sciences. So far, it has been a delightful adventure in learning and working with short-term visiting groups from various places in Eastern Asia, most notably South Korea and Indonesia.

This allows me some needed flexibility in terms of time. My passion and interest in the 1860 Japanese Embassy's visit to Hawaii -and that of the American's on board the U.S.S. Powhatan- has not diminished. Stay tuned! I sense that the best is yet to come!

With regards,

Jeffrey Bingham Mead

Team of Rivals: U.S.S. Powhatan and the Attack on Fort Sumter...

Lately I have been reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln authored by Doris Kerns Goodwin. It was in the chapter entitled “Mystic Chords of Memory” that I found references to the U.S.S. Powhatan -the same steam-powered ship that brought the ambassadorial delegation from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands in March, 1860, and thenceforth to San Francisco.

Many are familiar with the crisis involving the secession of South Carolina from the United States and the federal installation –still in Union hands- at Fort Sumter in 1861. Supplies were running low. Lincoln’s cabinet debated whether or not to re-supply it. In addition, Fort Pickens in Pensacola Bay, Florida remained in Union control and debate ensued about what to do to avert civil war. There were concerns about the number of “navy men who were openly disloyal to the Union.” As Goodwin reports, the President signed orders on April 1 to Commandant Andrew Foote of the Navy Yard in Brooklyn NY to “fit out the Powhatan without delay” for was to be a secret mission by the Powhatan to Fort Pickens, not Fort Sumter. The Powhatan was under the command of Lt. David Porter.

Goodwin states that, “The Powhatan was the U.S. Navy’s most powerful warship,” on page 343. “Under no circumstances” should “the fact that she is fitting out” be disclosed to the Navy department, Lincoln emphasized. Both Navy Secretary Welles and Captain Fox, whose plans for the relief of Sumter depended on the Powhatan, remained unaware of the secret orders. With its mighty guns and three hundred sailors, the Powhatan was supposed to play an essential role in backing up the tugboats carrying supplies to Sumter.”

In a move that had serious repercussions, President Lincoln signed orders without reading them carefully that committed the Powhatan to both Fort Pickens and Fort Sumter. Gideon Welles, the secretary of the Navy, wrote to Samuel Mercer who was commander at the time of the Powhatan. Goodwin wrote that on April 5, Mercer was instructed to depart New York for Charleston with the goal of arriving there by the morning of the 11^th. “If the supply boats were permitted to land at Fort Sumter, he should return to New York at once. If their entry was opposed, then the Powhatan and its supply ships should be used to open the way,” Goodwin writes.

With conflicting orders for the Powhatan to be essentially at two places at once the president’s strategy was “embarrassed by conflicting orders from the Secretary of the Navy.” Discovering the conflicting orders, Navy Secretary Welles and Secretary of State Seward went to the President. Seward was ordered at almost midnight to send Commander Porter a telegram “ordering him to return the Powhatan to Mercer without delay” so that the Sumter expedition could proceed. The Powhatan had already begun its voyage to Florida, not Charleston Harbor. When a Union fast ship finally caught up with the Powhatan, Porter continued to Florida anyway –assuming that “the previous order signed by the president had priority.”

Meanwhile, the Confederates had intercepted orders regarding the Powhatan and the attempt to resupply Fort Sumter. Brig. Gen. Pierre Beauregard sent a note at 3:30 a.m. on April 12 to Commander Anderson that he would commence an attack.

Goodwin wrote, “[Gustavus] Fox lamented, without the Powhatan’s men, howitzers, and fighting launches,” the Union forces had no chance at all to successfully defend themselves.

You can read about this and more about the U.S.S. Powhatan in pages 343-45 of Goodwin’s work. Highly recommended.

Also, see this article on the Civil War Daily Gazette. And this one from Tulane University.

CHINA AND JAPAN , by LT James D. Johnston, U.S.N. (1860)

(Picture Credit: Naval History and Heritage Command of the US Navy. The uniform is a Confederate States of America one; he joined the CSA when the Civil War started in 1861).

The number of historical books, journals and diaries available in online formats continues to rise daily, much to my satisfaction. As the co-founder of History Education Hawaii, Inc., recently designated as the official "Hawaii Council" of the National Council for History Education, I see the increased use of the Internet as a vehicle for increasing historical literacy in the USA.

US Navy Lieutenant James D. Johnston was the executive officer of the USS Powhatan, a state-of-the-art steamship that brought the Japanese ambassadorial delegation to the west coast of the United States via the Hawaiian Islands in 1860. I was delighted to find that his first-hand account of his voyages to China, Japan, Hawaii and back to the United States is available online:

"James D. Johnston, lieutenant, U.S. Navy, executive officer of the Steam-Frigate Powhatan, wrote an account of the trip of the Powhatan to open diplomatic relations with China and to transport the first Japanese ambassadors to the United States less than seven years after Commodore Matthew C. Perry forced his way into Japan in 1853. These were also the last years before the Civil War, before Southerners such as Johnston entered the Confederate Navy.

"This book is now annotated to show what was meant by passing references which were much clearer at the time it was written, and also to trace events in the lives of the participants after the voyage.The preliminary part of the book includes a table of contents explaining what the various chapters listed below actually cover. Or just start reading the book from the beginning."

Go to this link and enjoy!