Title: Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy
Author: Rhoda Blumberg
Publication Date: January 2003
ISBN 13: 978-0756914417
I decided to read this book because the cover image intrigued me after the terrible tsunami that hit Japan this March. And even though the book didn't have anything to do with that kind of natural disaster, I still learned a lot about Japan and Japanese customs and traditions.
This biography details the life of Manjiro, a young boy who is shipwrecked on a deserted island off of the coast of Japan in 1841. He and his friends become the first Japanese people to set foot on American soil and he eventually earns many honors and privileges through his attitude and ability to learn.
In the 1840s Japan was an isolated empire. There were strict rules preventing Japanese people from exposure to any foreign idea. The isolationist policies in place required that any Japanese person who came in contact with anyone from another nation should be executed rather than corrupt other Japanese people. The Japanese people were kept completely ignorant to life in the rest of the world. There was also a very strict caste system in place which prevented people from rising in station. Those that were born fisherman had to remain fisherman without any hope of moving up.
That Manjiro was not executed after returning to Japan 12 years after being rescued by an American whaling ship, and that he was elevated from lowly fisherman to noble samurai, testifies to his resilience and intelligence. His first hand knowledge of American advancements and of customs from around the world made him an invaluable consultant to the king and, ultimately, contributed to the end of Japan's isolation.
