John Manjiro

Manjiro Nakahama (commonly known as John Manjiro: 1827–1898) was a figure who was deeply involved with and greatly influenced Yukichi Fukuzawa, who lived through the same era.

Manjiro, a fisherman from Tosa, was cast adrift in 1841 at the age of 14. At that time, there were five people on board including Manjiro, and he was the youngest. After landing on Torishima and living on the uninhabited island for about five months, they were rescued in late June by the American whaling ship John Howland (registered in New Bedford, Massachusetts). According to the logbook of Lyman Holmes, a crew member on the ship, "they talked nothing we could understand only by signs" (Lyman Holmes's Logbook, Keio University Press). For about one year and ten months after being rescued, he accompanied the ship on its whaling voyage, and his life on an American ship began. Of the five castaways, the four others besides Manjiro disembarked in Honolulu, but Captain William Whitfield wanted to educate Manjiro in America and took him alone to the mainland.

After arriving in New Bedford in early May 1843 via Cape Horn, Manjiro lived in Fairhaven for about three years and received a school education. At Bartlett Academy, he studied not only English but also mathematics, navigation, surveying, and whaling. Manjiro also experienced discrimination, such as not being accepted into a church because of his skin color, but Captain Whitfield searched for a church that would accept him and eventually found a Unitarian church.

The three years and four months from May 1846 were spent on a whaling voyage aboard the Franklin. During this time, Manjiro had opportunities to encounter criticism of Japan's isolationist policy and sent a message to Whitfield saying, "I want to open a port (around Ryukyu) for whaling ships." In addition to his improved navigational skills through his experience on the ship, Manjiro was promoted to first mate after the captain of the ship began acting strangely.

The year 1849, when he returned to New Bedford, was the era of the Gold Rush. After leaving Fairhaven and traveling to San Francisco by ship, Manjiro earned about 600 dollars during a three-month stay in California, which prepared him for the costs of returning home. Carrying an English dictionary, history books, books on navigation, and a biography of George Washington, he arrived in Ryukyu from San Francisco in February 1851 (after which he underwent long interrogations in various places and finally reunited with his mother in his hometown of Nakanohama in November 1852). In November of the same year, Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick" was published.

Manjiro, who immediately after being rescued by the John Howland could only communicate through gestures and signs, returned to Japan after 10 years following his "study abroad in the United States." The total of three years and five months he spent on the American continent, including receiving a school education during those 10 years, was only a part of Manjiro's study abroad.

The time he spent with other crew members on American whaling ships like the John Howland and the Franklin was longer than the time he spent on land. Life on a whaling ship was also a "study abroad in the United States." The words from "Moby-Dick," "a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard" (Chapter 24), also apply to Manjiro.

Immediately after Matthew Perry first arrived in 1853 to demand the opening of the country and then left, Senior Councilor Masahiro Abe summoned Manjiro to Edo. This was to hear about Perry's intentions and other matters from Manjiro, who was well-versed in American affairs. Manjiro told Abe that America's wish was for Japan to "open a port where whaling ships can rest, perhaps around Satsuma Minamijima or Ryukyu."

There are various theories as to whether Manjiro played an active role as an interpreter when Perry returned the following year in 1854. One theory suggests he was not used as an interpreter due to concerns that he might provide a pro-American translation since his life had been saved by Americans. On the other hand, according to William Griffis's "Matthew Calbraith Perry: A Typical American Naval Officer," there is a theory that "[Manjiro] sat in an adjoining room, unseen but active, as the American interpreter for the Japanese." In any case, many people believe that Manjiro played a major role in the opening of Japan.

It is a famous episode that Fukuzawa switched from Dutch studies to English studies in 1859 after visiting Yokohama, but he struggled to find someone to teach him English. It is thought that Manjiro was the one who conveyed the situation in America. The "castaway" mentioned in the following part of "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" is believed to refer to Manjiro.

In 1859, at the age of 33, Manjiro published "Eibei Taiwa Shokei" (A Shortcut to Anglo-American Conversation; hereinafter "Shokei"). This was a pocket-sized English conversation book. Since it was published the year before the Japanese Embassy to the United States departed, it is presumed to have been very useful. It is a simple book featuring English example sentences, pronunciation written in katakana, and Japanese translations side-by-side.

Regarding the katakana pronunciation, as seen in examples like sick as "sekki," coming as "kamen," book as "bokku," and what you as "fucchi yu," it is evident that Manjiro struggled to reproduce the English he heard as faithfully as possible. A close reading of "Shokei" reveals inconsistencies in the katakana pronunciation notation and spelling errors in the example sentences.

To delve a little deeper into the pronunciation notation: just as Manjiro published "Shokei" after returning to Japan, Fukuzawa published the English-Japanese dictionary in 1860, immediately after returning from his trip to the United States on the Kanrin Maru. This was Fukuzawa's first publication. It consisted of the "Huaying Tongyu" (a collection of English-Chinese parallel words and short sentences) that Fukuzawa brought back from America, to which he added katakana pronunciation and Japanese translations. In this English-Japanese dictionary, the "v" sound is represented as "vu" (ヴ), and this notation is considered Fukuzawa's invention. In Manjiro's "Shokei," the "v" sound is often represented simply as "bu" (e.g., eleven as "irebun") or "u" (e.g., very as "uere," believe as "biriiu"). However, a careful examination of "Shokei" shows at least one instance where "vu" is used, such as very as "vuere." This can be seen as evidence that Manjiro also struggled with the notation of the "v" sound and went through a process of trial and error with various notations. While it is a speculation, the possibility cannot be ruled out that Fukuzawa got a hint from the "vu" notation in "Shokei" and used it in earnest in his English-Japanese dictionary.

In February 1860, Manjiro boarded the Kanrin Maru as the chief interpreter and traveled to the United States with Fukuzawa. The crew members listened to Manjiro's accounts of the situation in America. Shortly after departure, while many Japanese crew members were suffering from seasickness in the rough seas, Manjiro was enjoying himself, remembering his days crossing the ocean on whaling ships. An article in the Daily Alta California dated March 30, 1860, shortly after the Japanese mission arrived in San Francisco, states the following:

The "Embassy" refers to the Japanese mission that came on the Powhatan, which arrived slightly later than the Kanrin Maru. This article speaks to Manjiro's high level of English proficiency. Also, shortly after arriving in San Francisco, Manjiro guided Fukuzawa to a bookstore, where the two of them purchased English dictionaries.

The "Webster's dictionary" purchased here is believed to be an abridged version of the "Webster's Dictionary" compiled by Noah Webster. An article reporting on Manjiro and Fukuzawa purchasing dictionaries was published in the San Francisco Herald on April 4, 1860, under the headline "The Japanese in Town."

It is presumed that this "one of them" refers to Manjiro. Furthermore, the continuation of this article states, "The interpreter of the Kanrin Maru had a large school in Kanagawa and was teaching English to young people."

Fukuzawa published a translation of the "Declaration of Independence" drafted by Thomas Jefferson as "The Manifesto of the Independence of the 13 States of America, July 4, 1776" in Things Western (Seiyō Jijō). Furthermore, he wrote the part of the Declaration of Independence that says "All men are created equal" in Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning) using the expression "It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor, comes down to a matter of education." If we consider that he performed these translation tasks while consulting Webster's dictionary, many of Fukuzawa's works might never have come into being without his interaction with Manjiro.