A fishery boat had been caught in a storm and had drifted out to sea from a tiny fishery village near Ashizuri Misaki Cape in the middle of the 19th century. The crew were all young. A boy among them, who would come to be called John Manjiro later, was only 14 years old. They were eventually able to land on a small isolated island in Bonin Islands. While they were struggling to survive the difficulties there, a whale boat of the U.S. found them and took them to Hawaii, not Japan. Japan was under its restrictive diplomacy at that time and foreign ships weren't allowed to visit Japan even if it was for humanitarian purposes.
He was brought up in the U.S. and acquired various kinds of knowledges along with English skills. He was very helpful for the modern development of Japan. His museum was built at his birth place and I dropped in at it.
(Vocabulary)
Bonin Islands 小笠原諸島
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