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Hyosen Kiryaku
(Records of the Drifters), circa 1852 
It is the hand-written, hand-stitched, mulberry paper
book of four volumes, which was donated to the Millicent Library,
Fairhaven, Massachusetts by the late Viscount Kikujiro Ishii,
then Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. in 1918.
These volumes are the documentation of the intensive
and prolonged interrogation of Manjiro who was examined as a result
of his violation of the national isolation policy of Japan. During
the period from 1641-1858, leaving and returning to Japan had
been strictly forbidden. Manjiro, the first Japanese visitor to
America, was picked up after a shipwreck by an American whaler
and brought to New Bedford, Mass. After ten years of valuable
new experience in Fairhaven, New Bedford and over the seven seas,
Manjiro went back to Japan in 1851. When he returned home, Manjiro
was arrested as an offender of the national isolation law and
placed under detention by the Shogun's government. After one and
a half years of detention by the government, Manjiro was finally
allowed to return to his native place where he was once again
placed under the local authorities. Later he was given a samurai
title of a modest ranking due to his knowledge of the American
people, society, science and technology. In 1854, when Commodore
Perry negotiated the Treaty of Friendship and Amity, Manjiro played
a significant role in bringing about the first U.S.-Japan diplomatic
relations.
Regarding this brief account of Manjiro, these primary
records have been widely scattered in the past, perhaps, because
of the xenophobic reaction prevalent at the time of the arrival
of Commodore Perry and the rapidly developing events of history,
which had often obscured the documents concerning Manjiro. Perhaps,
the nature of the documents which deal openly with the conditions
in the U.S., caused their prohibition by the authorities of the
Shogunate. However, these volumes were edited by Shoryo Kawata,
a samurai artist-scholar who was commissioned by Lord Ouchi of
his feudal domain.
With regard to the authenticity of the four volumes
which now belong to the Millicent Library, the present researcher
located nine manuscript copies of these original documents: Two
are in the U. S. Millicent Library and Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia.
Seven are in the possession of the following in Japan: Nakahama,
Kishi, Saikyo, Tsuda, Matsuoka, Hokuni no Miya and Sumiyoshi (now
missing).
from The Presentation of a Samurai Sword by Dr. Tadashi Kikuoka, published by
the Millicent Library, 1982
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