by Steve James on Wed May 12, 2021 5:24 am
It's Asian American + Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Well, imo, Pacific Islanders need their own month. It's hard enough trying to squeeze Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans into the same historical category as Indians, Indonesians, Filipinos, and Tibetans. Anyway, ever hear the story of Nakahama Manjirō (中濱 万次郎, 1827 – 1898), "one of the first Japanese people to visit the United States and an important translator during the Opening of Japan.[2]"?
I posted the story of Squanto and meeting the Pilgrims. Manjiro's story is almost opposite. He was shipwrecked, and got rescued by a New England whaling ship. The story is much more complicated, but, in brief, he learns English, becomes a whaler (as in Moby Dick), and eventually comes to America and gets and education in navigation, history, and the sciences.
But, eventually, he gets to go back to Japan --which had not yet opened to the West. However, his knowledge made him useful to the empire. So, he was promoted from fisherman to samurai and given a second name. When Commodore Perry got to Japan, it was now Nakahama Manjiro who became a go between, translator, and essential to the opening of Japan. Oh well, Manjiro also introduced the Japanese to whaling.
Anyway, ya'll should look up his story. It deserves a movie --because it's interesting and new. In the video thread, there was a discussion of the show Warriors. Chinese immigrants were here since the 1820s, but we never learned any specific names. When I was growing up, the only two Chinese names from the 19th century I knew/heard were "Hop Sing," and "Hey Boy." These weren't commands; they were names. And, the only other Chinese name was Kato. (Though, in real life, there were the Lee boys, Jimmy and Tommy. I can't imagine how they felt watching tv).
"A man is rich when he has time and freewill. How he chooses to invest both will determine the return on his investment."