RETURN TO PAST EXHIBITIONS - MAIN PAGE

Drifting: Nakahama Manjiro's Tale of Discovery
An Illustrated Manuscript Recounting Ten Years of Adventure at Sea

October 5, 1999 - February 6, 2000

"This book tells the story of some castaways who lived in foreign lands for many years, sailed the seas in all directions, and circled the globe several times." This is how the manuscript of Manjiro's adventures begins.

In 1841 fourteen-year-old Manjiro was shipwrecked with four companions off the coast of Japan. An American whaling schooner rescued the group, and Manjiro chose to return with the ship¹s captain to Fairhaven, Massachusetts. He spent the next decade living in the United States and sailing the world. Upon his return to Japan in 1851, Manjiro was interrogated by authorities concerned that he not introduce foreign ideas into the country. At the same time, the Japanese government realized his value as a rare source of information and had Manjiro dictate his experiences to a scribe.

Manjiro's acquaintance with American culture proved timely. When the Perry expedition appeared in 1853, Manjiro was summoned as interpreter for the Japanese imperial government in talks that led to the opening of Japanese ports to foreign trade after 250 years of official isolationist policy. Manjiro later served with the first Japanese embassy to the United States, became an instructor of navigation, whaling, and English, and revisited Fairhaven after a twenty-year absence.

About the Exhibition

Several versions of Manjiro¹s story as recorded by the scribe survive, and the Rosenbach¹s manuscript is considered to be Manjiro¹s own copy. Fifty-four watercolor images, including portraits, maps, island flora and fauna, whaling ships, and whales illustrate the story; the illustrations also depict nineteenth-century America through her coins, military equipment, tools, trains, steamboats, and port-city views. Among the illustrations are ten signed by Manjiro.

The exhibition shows the Rosenbach's Manjiro manuscript for the first time, together with samples of the specimens and artifacts depicted in the illustrations, art and artifacts on whaling, objects from the 1854 Perry expedition, and rare books from the Museum¹s world-renowned literary holdings on the sea. The exhibition also addresses the manuscript as an example of Japanese book traditions.

Click here for a list of links to other sites relating to Manjiro.