[Rarebooks] FS: An Unusual Samurai Sword Presentation in Massachusetts

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

>From our latest catalog-
RECENT ACQUISITIONS FOR WINTER, 2009.
<http://www.joslinhall.com/Catalog_317.htm>

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"The Presentation of a Samurai Sword. The Gift of Doctor Toichiro
Nakahama, of Tokio, Japan, to the Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, by
Viscount Kikujiro Ishii, Japanese Ambassador to the United States, July
the Fourth, Nineteen Hundred Eighteen"

Fairhaven; The Millicent Library: 1926. 2nd ed.

On June 27, 1841 Fairhaven resident Captain William H. Whitfield,
commanding the New Bedford whaler 'John Howland", picked up five Japanese
fisherman who had been shipwrecked on a small Pacific island. Japan at the
time was a closed country, and Japanese were not allowed to leave, upon
pain of death, so Whitfield took the five to Hawaii. The youngest
castaway, 14-year old Manjiro Nakahama, learned English during the voyage
and asked to remain on board as a cabin boy. Manjiro was eventually
settled in Fairhaven, apprenticed to a cooper, made another whaling voyage
as First Mate and then journeyed to California to pan for gold. In 1847 he
returned to Hawaii on a whaler and was re-united with his friends, and
decided to return to Japan. They were dropped off off Okinawa, where they
were immediately arrested, questioned, released and awarded government
pensions.

And there the story might have ended, but for Manjiro's knowledge of
navigation, Western ship-building and English. He was summoned to Edo
(Tokyo) by the government in 1853 and made a samurai. He served as a
translator when Perry's Black Ships arrived, helped negotiate treaties,
and was part of the new Japanese embassy to America. Manjiro also
translated Bowditch's 'American Practical Navigator" into Japanese, taught
English, naval tactics and whaling techniques, and was said to have helped
in the construction of the 'Shohei Maru", Japan's first modern warship.
Perhaps most importantly, for many years Manjiro's positive description of
America was the most important influence on Japanese attitudes, and helped
foster cooperation between the two countries.

Manjiro died in 1898, and in 1918 his eldest son, Dr. Toichiro Nakahama,
donated a valuable 14th century samurai sword to Fairhaven in thanks for
his father's rescue and the fondness his father always felt for the town.
This is the 1926 edition of the 1918 program of ceremonies for the sword
presentation. It contains a description of the presentation ceremony, the
texts of speeches, portraits, and a picture of the sword.

Softcover. 5.5"x8.5", 49 pages, 5 b/w plates. Covers a bit worn, tips
thumbed, and two chips on the rear cover. Internally just some very minor
soil. [32676] $65.00


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<http://www.joslinhall.com/Catalog_317.htm>

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