ジョン万次郎の資料調査・保存プロジェクト｜日米交流の原点を後世へ

The John Manjiro archive research and preservation project:Preserving the origins of US-Japan exchange for future generations

 

The condition of the materials passed down through the Nakahama family from generation to generation has deteriorated and if this situation continues, the continued preservation of these valuable materials will be in jeopardy.

 

In 1841, 14-year-old Manjiro Nakahama, also known as “John Manjiro”, was rescued by the whaling ship "John Howland" from the uninhabited island of Torishima, where he and his four companions had been shipwrecked after a storm.

The captain of the whaling ship was William Whitfield, and ever since then the Nakahama and Whitfield families have maintained a friendship from generation to generation.

 

We, the Manjiro Research Group, have been involved with both families and have been involved in activities to honor Manjiro's contribution to the modernization of Japan.

 

This valuable archive that have been passed down through the Nakahama family but these materials have deteriorated since Manjiro's death 125 years ago.

We have decided to carry out a survey of the materials and to restore and manage them in an environment suitable for long-term preservation.

However, to do this is very costly and as we are a volunteer group we do not have sufficient funds.

Therefore, we have decided to attempt a crowdfunding project in order to raise funds for travel expenses for the research of the Manjiro archive and for specialized packaging to store the materials to be archived.

This research is the first step in our project for the 200th anniversary of Manjiro's birth in 2027.

Our future plans include researching materials on the Whitfield family, compiling a database of these materials, holding special exhibitions, publishing a catalogue and making the materials widely available as a digital archive.

 

We would like to ask for your kind support in our efforts to preserve for future generations the materials that document the starting point for exchange between Japan and the United States.
 

Part of a group of materials

 

✔ Photographic plates and films

The Nakahama Collection contains photographic materials from the period from Manjiro to several generations, and deterioration is particularly noticeable on old photographic plates and films. The emulsion layer is peeling off, mold and acetic acid smell are also observed. The photographic plates are planned to be placed in a safer preservation environment as a priority after the barely remaining images are digitized.

 

 

Manjiro spent the 17 years until his death with the family of his eldest son, Toichiro. The photo below shows Toichiro with his wife Yoshiko, eldest daughter Itoko, eldest son Kou, second daughter Eiko, second son Kiyoshi, and perhaps the nanny "Kuni" between the two youngsters. Toichiro, who also served as the first chairman of the Tokyo City Medical Association, published "Nakahama Manjiro Den" from Fuzanbo in 1936, which played a decisive role in the legacy of John Manjiro being passed on to future generations, and died the following year. The Nakahama Collection was laid the foundation by Mr. Toichiro and has been preserved and passed down by his descendants.

 

 

The photograph plate showing Tetsu, Manjiro's first wife, is also thought to have been taken by Manjiro himself. Tetsu died of illness at the young age of 25, leaving behind a son and two daughters.

 

 

---

 

✔Manjiro's drawing of the rescue of Torishima?

This painting, said to be by Manjiro, depicts a scene in which the crew of the John Howland rescues Manjiro and five others from Torishima. Although the drawing is poor, the features of the whaling boat, with its bow and stern of the same shape, and the rigging of the sailboat are accurate, indicating that it was painted by someone with a practical knowledge of whaling voyages. The fourth line from the top is "Munjlo" (Manjiro), the fifth line is unknown, and the sixth line may be "Narcharnonoham" (Nakanohama).

 

 

---

 

✔Hyokyakukidan (Drifting Passenger's Strange Tales)

When Manjiro returned to Japan with Denzo and Goemon, various people interviewed them about their experiences and transcribed their stories. The readers produced a series of stories that were a mixture of fiction and fact, so "Manjiro's Drifting Memoirs" is full of variations. The writings on the back of the front cover and in other places outside the columns are also interesting.
 

 

---

 

✔  At this time, we will not conduct an exhaustive survey of the materials, but will assign a unique material number and name to each material, perhaps several hundred, and photograph them to begin creating a database, with the future goal of creating a database of the Nakahama Collection.

✔ Remove impediments as much as possible from particularly poor condition materials and place them in a safer storage environment.

✔ Produce a research report (booklet) with a summary of the collection and a description of a few selected important items.

＜Target amoun＞

3 million yen

*Support in excess of the goal will be used for further restoration of materials and other expenses.

 

＜Use of funds＞

Research and study of John Manjiro's materials (including travel expenses), restoration of materials, purchase of packaging materials for storage, preparation of research reports, etc.

Message from Kyo Nakahama

 

My research colleagues have each been associated with my ancestor John Manjiro in one way or another for many years, and we formed the Manjiro Curatorial Research Group by chance.

 

I have begun a research that includes materials on my ancestors, including Manjiro, and Captain Whitfield of the United States, who rescued Manjiro. The exchange between the two families began with Captain Whitfield and Manjiro and spanned more than 180 years, six or seven generations. In terms of Japan-U.S. exchange at the civic level, the documents of both families are extremely valuable, having survived the isolation period and World War II.

 

As the starting point of Japan-U.S. exchange, it is a historical document on a national level. Unfortunately, some of the materials are badly damaged, but we hope to preserve them for a long time.

 

We are working with the opinions of experts from the University of Tokyo and other institutions, but we are not historians or property owners, but a group of people who wish to pass on Manjiro's achievements to future generations. We are grateful to all of our colleagues who have been working so diligently and at their own expense, but when we think about the work ahead, we need funds for digitization, restoration, and travel and transportation expenses, including to the United States.

 

We hope that this crowdfunding will awaken the sleeping documents of both countries and both families and bring them back to life for us in the 21st century.