[Heart of Samurai] A Japanese man who lived a life full of ups and downs.

Today, I would like to post about a Japanese man who had a very interesting life in Edo period. His name is Manjiro Nakahama, also known as John Manjiro. He encountered so many difficulties but he could overcome every difficulty. The story of his life is at the forefront of the kids attention in U.S. because his life give them courage and hope. I will introduce his life a little bit in my blog.

John Manjiro

He spend a boyhood as fishermen in Tosa (Kochi), Japan. One day, he went to fishing with 4 fellows but their ship is caught in a typhoon. Their small boat was adrift on the Pacific Ocean. 

The boat drifted to a deserted island. John and his fellows drink rainwater, eat bird eggs and survived several months.

Fortunately, the American whaling ship has been stopped to the desert island to get some water. The American sailors rescued them at that time.

Instead of going to Japan, the whaling ship headed to Hawaii because it was in seclusion in Japan at the time. Manjiro learned English while he was helping the work on board the ship.

The captain and sailors liked Manjiro's hard work. 3 people except Manjiro got off the ship in Hawaii, Manjiro remained in the whaling ship.

The whaling ship got back to a port of the United States mainland with Manjiro. Manjiro went to the school in the U.S. as adopted son of the captain.

He went to a college and he studied a lot. He became an excellent human resources as a whaling ship engineer and technician.

He had a peaceful years to live as an whalers in the United States. 

However, he got his second disaster.

He had an american girlfriend. He was thinking to get married with her but she had died of illness while he was out to deep-sea fishing...

Manjiro became homesick and he decided to go back to Japan. But he didn't have enough money... 


His life was not so easy but he was very positive and looked forward all the time. What is happened to the rest of his life? Well, if you want to know the rest of his life and want to have a positive life like him, you must read this book. >>>Heart of a Samurai

Thank you so much!