[Rarebooks] FS: A Samurai Sword n America...

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

"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"

Published in Fairhaven by The Millicent Library in 1926. 2nd edition.

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 and marooned on a small Pacific island.
Japan at the time was a closed country, and foreigners were not allowed to
enter, nor were Japanese allowed to leave, upon pain of death if they
returned, so Whitfield took the five to Hawaii. The youngest castaway,
14-year old Manjiro Nakahama, learned English during the voyage and had
become friends with the Captain, so he asked to remain on board as a cabin
boy.

Manjiro Nakahama 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, with two of them, decided to return
to Japan. They took passage on a bark and 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 in Imperial service. He served as a translator when Perry’s Black
Ships arrived, helped negotiate the Convention of Kanagawa, and in 1860
was part of the new Japanese embassy to America. After traveling to Europe
as an observer during the Franco-Prussian War, Manjiro returned to the
United States in 1870 and revisited Fairhaven and Captain Whitfield. Upon
his return to Japan Manjiro’s career continued to be busy- he 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. Today there is a Manjiro Society
for International Exchange, dedicated to goodwill between citizens of
America and Japan.

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, featuring portraits of Manjiro and Dr. Nakahama, Captain
Whitfield, the Japanese ambassador and (of course) the sword. It contains
a description of the presentation ceremony, and the texts of speeches by
the Ambassador, the grandson of Captain Whitfield, and several town
officials, as well as Massachusetts’ Acting Governor, Calvin Coolidge.

Softcover. 5.5”x8.5”, 49 pages, 5 black & white plates. Covers a bit worn,
tips thumbed, and two chips on the rear cover. Internally just some very
minor soil.   $65~

Some Photos =>

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