The Recovery of the Ogasawara Islands

English Translation Notes by Henry Hiromichi Hoshino from the following articles:

Tabohashi Kiyoshi (1922) “Ogasawara Shotou no kaishuu 1”. Rekishi Chiri 39.5: 361-378 (also paginated as 13-30)

---- (1922) “Ogasawara Shotou no kaishuu 2”. Rekishi Chiri 39.6: 444-455 (also paginated as 8-19)

---- (1922) “Ogasawara Shotou no kaishuu 3”. Rekishi Chiri 40.4: 255-267 (also paginated as 8-19)

---- (1922) “Ogasawara Shotou no kaishuu 4”. Rekishi Chiri 40.2: 84-95 (also paginated as 13-25)

Part 1 p. 14

The Shogunate Government of Edo(Tokyo) came to know about the Bonin Islands fairly early in history. In 1670, a ship from Kii province drifted to the Bonins. Later this fact was reported to the Government.

In 1675, 32 men with Shimaya Ichizaemon as Captain explored the "BUNIN" or Bonin Islands: The above exploration was considered the only authoritative fact for a long time.

Hayashi Shihei spent major part of his writing about Bonin Islands with the records written by Shimaya in his book called Sangoku-tsuran. His book was translated into French by the famous Heinrich Urius Klaproth, which became the sole historical data. The legend, fictitious, of the discovery of the Bonins by Ogasawara Sadayori was mentioned by Hayashi Shihei in his book carelessly which gave strong proof that the Ogasawara Islands belonged to Japan. We cannot ignore Hayashi's services for what he did, but we must not forget to give credit to Klaproth whose services may exceed those of Lafcadio Hearn or Pierre Lotti.

Part 1 p. 21

Kanrinmaru left Shinagawa, Tokyo, on Dec. 4. Entered Uraga harbor to load fresh water and foods. Kanrinmaru headed south on the 7th. Arrived in Chichijima Bay on the 19th. The arrival of a small ship with the rising sun flag must have shocked the islanders more than visit by the larger ship with the Stars and Stripes. As soon as the ship cast anchor, the crews came ashore, climbed 956 foot high mountain and raised the rising sun flag.

The expedition to the Ogasawara Islands by Mizuno-chikugonokami was well planned and executed superbly compared to the events that took place around that time. Mizuno found out the whereabouts of Nathaniel Savory from the harbor pilot who came to the ship; on the same day, he ordered Yui Tazaemcn, Matsumoto Sannojo, Murai Zenpei, and Nakahama Manjiro to visit Savory and hand him a letter from Portman, a clerk at the American Legation. The sending Yui, the head aide, shows Mizuno overestimated the importance of Savory's position. The first question from Yui to Savory was, "Did you come here with the order of the King of your country?” The answer was negative and Mizuno was relieved. This shows how much the diplomats of that era paid attention to the small detail with regard to the foreigners.

Mizuno took Hattori Kiichi and some travel officers and went ashore on the 20th. The bunting was put up on the shore. Nathaniel Savory, an American, and Thomas Webb and George Horton of England were called in. However, Webb declined since he was living at Susaki Village. The meeting between the Japanese high officials sitting an the camp stool in formal coats of arms with swords and the castaways might have been more interesting than the Perry's visit.

Savory's position was equivalent of a village master and he was not expected to be granted an audience from Mizuno. However, Mizuno treated Savory as if he was the head of the Island.

Mizuno Chikushu and Savory discussed the following with Nakahama Manjiro translating.

Savory asks: This island belongs to England since the visit by an English ship in 1827. I have papers to prove it. Have you known the above facts?

Mizuno: Yes, I know the detail. Our people discovered this island 300 years ago and founded a shrine. Do you know about it?

Savory: We thought this island belonged to England. If what you say is true, I have nothing to say. However, when we came here, there was nobody living here.

Mizuno: Our people erected buildings 300 years ago and named the island Ogasawara. They lived here for about 200 years, but they discontinued from the year of rooster. That is why no one was living when you came. We plan to let you live here as before, since you lived here many years.

Savory: We have nothing to say, since we do not know anything. We have seen some record of your country discovering this island.

Part 1 p.23

Savory and other settlers naturally wanted the status quo and were not happy to be under the restraint of a small country like Japan. However, they did not have power to resist the well armed naval ship. So they had to accept Mizuno's order by saying, " We are al1 relieved and happy".

We must say Mizuno was full of tricks when he said he knew all about the discovery by the Beechee's "Blossom" and the foreigners came to the island just when the Japanese stopped going to the Islands.

Mizuno was happy that Savory accepted the Japanese Government's order. Mizuno gave Savory one barrel of sake, 50 soup bowls, and other goods. Savory was especially appreciative of two ducks.

Part 2, p. 9

In 1861, Egawa Tarozaemon (Hidetake), the Chief Magistrate for the seven islands of Izu, was ordered to investigate, since Hachijo-jima was closest to the Ogasawara Islands, had similar natural features, the land was small, and was overpopulated. Egawa made his follower, Kashiwagi Sozo, ask Sakujiro, a village master who happened to be in Edo (Tokyo) at that time, his opinion. Sakujiro expressed that the islanders should be furnished with farming tools, clothing, material to build houses, foods, etc.

In the meantime, the Kanrin-maru dropped anchor at Shimoda; Mizuno Chikugonokami and Hattori Kiichi came to Edo and stressed the importance of the Ogasawara Islands. The report noted exposed deposits of silver, tin, and copper. The report said the marsh was full of sugar canes, banana plants; hills were covered with palm trees and other strange plants. The climate is very mild and there was no snow or frost even during the middle of winter.

However, there is very little flat land and the soil is loamy with sand mixed in it. The foreigners use sweet potatoes, corn and taro as their daily food. It does not seem impossible to grow rice and wheat, the report said.

The report placed the most emphasis on the Chichijima Bay. It said the bay is twice as large as Shimoda bay; it would be profitable to sell coal and foods to foreign ships; open up mines, cut lumber, manufacture sugar, etc.

Part 2, p.10

No one doubted Mizuno's report, since he was respected by the leaders of the Shogunate. It was decided that forty people from Hachijo-jima be sent to Chichi-jima. The decree given to the islanders of Hachijo by the chief magistrate, Egawa Tarozaemon is rather interesting and I will quote a portion of it. "The Government will supply rice, wheat, bean paste, soy sauce, and other foods; housing and clothing will be furnished also until the field will start producing. Rewards will be given to those who work hard. Only men of character will be selected and it will be difficult to include the exiles. Those who are not able to support their wives may marry them as long as they are men of character. If one is taking his son or daughter, he will be allowed to take their future mates."

It was quite an open-minded policy. The number of people to be sent was limited to 15 men and 15 women plus ten craftsmen including carpenter, sawer, plasterer, and blacksmith. This limitation was due to the ship's capacity. Each one was given one roll of cotton, one roll each of striped cloth for men and women, one sash, and five ryo. A craftsman was paid 3 monme 7 bu and 5 rin in silver per day.

Part 2, p.11

The captain, Ban Tetsutaro, of Choyo-maru left Shinagawa on June 18, 1862 under the instruction to transport emigrants. Among those who were on board were Tanaka Rentaro (gaikokubugyo-shihai-shirabekyaku), Sugita Shinsuke (Joyaku), Manesaka Kinsouke (doshin=low level official), Tominaga Shunpei, Sakujiro, the village master from Hachijo-jima, etc. On this same day, the sister ship, Kanrin-maru (Captain was Yatabori Keizo) headed for Nagasaki with fifteen students to study in Holland including Uchida Tsunejiro (Masao), Enomoto Kamejiro (Takeaki or Buyo), Sawa Tarozaemon (Teisetsu), and Akamatsu Daisaburo (Noriyoshi).

Choyomaru entered Uraga harbor in the evening of the 16^th, 3½ hrs after departing. While the ship was lying at anchor loading coal and fresh water, some kind of epidemic skin disease broke out within the ship and with more than one half of the crew contracting it. The captain was forced to delay the departure. This disease was called Andoros at that time; it came from the tropical region. Almost all the ships suffered from this disease. Kanrinmaru stayed at Shimoda over a month also for the same reason. This illness persisted until Oguri Kozukenosuke happen to issue stricter rules regarding the ship cleanliness. It is said that this disease was nonexistent among foreign ships.

Choyomaru left Uraga on July 20 and dropped anchor at Kaminato of Hachijo-jima the following day. Nishikawa Sunshiro, Nezu Kinjiro (later called Seikichi) and Uyehara Shichiro) went ashore, but the ship returned to Tateyama Bay on that day, since there wasno safe harbor at Hachijo.

Part 2, p. 12

The ship stayed at Uraga from August 3 to 19^th. Left Uraga on the 21^st and arrived at Kaminato harbor the following evening. It took in 30 emigrants and 8 craftsmen. The following are the names of the emigrants.

Kashitate-mura, Hachijo-jima

Magosuke (32) and his wife Miwa (35) Farmer from Oka-mura, Hachijo-jima

Yosakichi (46) and Iwa (his wife 43) “

Tosuke (32) and his wife Take (30) “

Kentaro (35) and his wife Tetsu (45) Mitsune-mura, Hachijo-jima

Yoshichi (54) and his wife Kisoyo (46) Sueyoshi-mura, Hachijo-jima

Shiro (14) Yoshichi’s sonand Nyoko (girl) 16, his daughter “

Matsuzo (41) and his wife Teno (35) Sueyoshi-mura, Hachijo-jima

Tsunematsu (13) Matsuzo’s son “

Nyoko (9), Matsuzo’s daughter “

Sanpachi (27) and his wife Gen (25) Nakanogo, Hachijo-jima

Taroichi (47) and his wife Toku (40) “

Saijiro (21) and his wife Ichi (23) “

P. 13

Denkichi (31) and his wife Hayu(30) Kashitate-mura, Hachijo-jima

Denmatsu (8) Denkichi's son

Sue (9) Denkichi's daughter

Kanematsu (32) and his wife Waki (30) “

Yumatsu (12) Kanematsu's son

Toyu (5) Kanematsu's daughter

According to the decree from Egawa, eight minors were to be married as follows Yoshichi's son Shiro was to be married to Matsuzo's daughter. Matsuzo's son Tsunematsu was to marry Yoshichi's daughter. Denkichi's son Denmatsu was to marry Toyu, Kanematsu's daughter. Kanematsu's son Yumatsu was to marry Sue, Denkichi's daughter.

Choyo-maru arrived at Chichijima Bay in the morning of the 26th. The emigrants were put ashore; 25 koku (1 koku=4.9629 bushels) of unpolished rice, 25 koku of wheat, and 3 koku of ? rice. The ship visited Haha-jima on the 3rd of August (leap month) (Note: according to the old calendar, certain month is repeated twice). It returned to Chichijima Bay on the 14th and left for home on the 15th. Thus the long pending plan to develop the Ogasawara Islands finally got started.

Part 2 p. 16

The first murder on the Islands occurred at the night of October 24. At that night, William Gilley, who lived at Okumura, was attacked by someone in front of his residence receiving serious injury. He died the next day. The arms used was thought to be some kind of sword. Thomas Smith and another man were considered suspects. The queer thing is that the above fact was reported to the Government Office of the Islands by George Horton who was living with Gilley on Jan. 11, 1863, the next year. It seems there was some reason for the Government Office not to pursue the case.

Part 2 pp. 18-19

Why was the development of he Ogasawara Islands abruptly discontinued? The following is the explanation given in the "Reestablishment of the Development of the Ogasawara Islands".

"It was August 21, 1862 that Choyo-maru was ordered to remove the emigrants. There was an incident at Namamugi where the followers of Shimazu Saburo (Hisamitsu) killed an English merchant, Charles Lenox Richardson, and wounded three others, two Englishmen and one woman. Since February, 1863, British Fleet assembled at Yokohama, lead by Augustus Leopold Super. Compensations for the Namamugi Incident were demanded. It seemed hostilities were imminent. Thus it was decided that all the people living in the Ogasawara Islands were to be taken away to avoid any possible incident."

The author thinks than the above was how it looked on the surface. The real reason was probably related to the course of action Ando Taishu had to take.

Ando Taishu was the only cabinet member after the death of Ti Tairo who was the mainstay of the Japan's diplomacy. He became the object of envy by the Royalists of the time after the incident in which Kazunomiya of the Imperial family married to a subject. He was attacked outside the Sakashitamon on Jan. 15, 1862 and was wounded. He continued to work with foreign affairs, but he was finally dismissed from his position of "roju" an April 12, 1862. He was eventually stripped of all his territory and was confined to his home.

The Japan's foreign policy changed completely after Ando's leaving his post and the Ogasawara was completely forgotten.

Part 4 p. 22

Pease left Ogiura on a boat on October 9, 1874 and never came back. A few days later, the boat on which Pease was on drifted ashore at David Beach, it is said. Pease had an employee called Spencer, a Negro. Spencer became intimate with Pease's wife and he was suspected of the disappearance of Pease. However, it is said that no one missed Pease's death. Thus the Japanese officials were not involved in this incident.

Part 4 p. 22

On December 3, 1875, Church, the Captain of the Curlew, saw a Frenchman, Louis Lesseur, possessing a copper plate which was left at Chichi-jima by Frederick Beechey, the Captain of Blossom, an English ship on June 14, 1827 declaring the occupation of the Ogasawara Islands. On that same day, Edmund J. Church, Naval commander, the Captain of the British naval ship Curlews took steps to invalidate the above declaration of occupation with Russell Robertson, the Consul at Kanagawa witnessing the procedure. Thus, the 50 years' of intervention by England with respect to the Bonin Islands had ended. Finishing her duties, the Curlew left Chichi-jima on the same day. The above is based mostly on the lecture given by Consul Robertson at the Yokohama Asia Society on March 15, 1876. (Trans. Asiatic Soc. of Jap., vol. IV)

Part 4 p. 25

It goes without saying that it is justifiable for the historians to pay no attention to legends not based on historical facts. It should be noted that the true historical facts are buried in the studies of the historians while the old legends are widely accepted. The discovery of the Bonin Islands is a typical example. May be it was fortunate for Japan that there was no accurate study published in Japan nor in Europe.

The reason is that it is almost impossible to prove that the Japanese had any knowledge of the Bonin Islands prior to 1670; whereas the Spanish had the knowledge of the Islands in 1543 which was the time when the Portuguese landed the Tanegashima for the first time. It may not be too difficult to go even further back. In this regard, the Bonin Islands are different from the Kurile Islands. The importance of the Bonin Islands in the Modern Times was recognized after the rediscovery of the Islands in 1527 by Captain Beechey. The United States and Japan planned expeditions to the Bonins since then. I might add that England planned an expedition fifteen years prior to the Perry's expedition. I hope to have an opportunity sometime in the future to write about the above.

Page by page summary of “The Recovery of the Islands of Ogasawara”

Part 1

Pages

13-14 Feb., 1670 Shipwreck on the Bonin (BUNIN=no man) Islands was reported to the Shogunate Governement.

1675 Expedition by Ichizaemon Shimaya. Tabohashi gives special credit to Klaproth for translating the Shimaya's record. The author notes that Hayashi Shihei's careless quotation from Ogasawara Sadayori's fictitious claim gave Japan preferential right to claim Ogasawara Islands as her territory.

15 1840 Boatman Sannojo drifted to Chichi-lima and met Mathew Mazaro Nathaniel Savory.

16 1860 Visit to the U.S. by Masaoki Niimi importance of Ogasawara.

16-19 Preparation to send envoys to Ogasawara took two years (1860-1862).

Notified US and England of the intention of developing Ogasawara.

20 Arrival of Kanrin-maru to Chichijima. Flag raising.

21-23 Visiting Savory, etc. Detail of conversation between Mizuno and Savory with Manjiro Nakahama interpreting. Savory, Epp, and Horton were asked if they wished to be Japanese subjects. They accepted the offer.

24 Compromise on hunting right. Currency exchange rate.

25-27 Property settlement

27 Disappearance of 8 ducks owned by Savory. Kanrin-naru visits Haha-jima. Interview of Mutley and William Allen.

28 Kanrin-maru returns to Shimoda. Left Sakunosuke Obana and others to govern the islands.

28-30 Comparison of names, old and new, of the Ogasawara Islands given by the Mizuno's expedition. (stayed 4 months).

Part 2

12 March 17, 1862, eight days after Kanrin-maru left, Choyo-maru arrived at Chichijima. Senshu-maru finally arrived on April 2.

13 Detailed account of sending 30 people from Hachijo to Ogasawara as emigrants.

14-15 Protest by Sir Rutherford Alcoch of England. Official notices were sent to various countries claiming that the Ogasawara Islands belonged to Japan. Development of the island. Daily rations.

16-17 Murder incident. (W. Gilley) Sudden evacuation of all Japanese from the islands. Ordered May 9, 1863. Choyo-maru left the island on May 13.

18-19 Reasons for the abrupt evacuation is given.

Part 3

8 Importance of whaling and an attempted murder of George Horton. No detail.

9-14 Recommendations were made to develop Ogasawara by Sakunosuke Obana,

Masasada - Minamoto, etc. Government stayed indecisive.

15-16 M.A.S. von Brandt questioned the Foreign Ministry about the statement in John W. King, master, R.N., The China Pilot, 1861 which claims that the Bonin Islands belong to England.

17-18 Recommendation to develop Bonin Islands by Sankei Fujikawa.

Part 4

13 Sir Harry Parks (England) questioned where the Bonin Islands belonged.

14 The Government just didn't know how to handle the Bonins.

15 The opinion of Miyamoto Koichi regarding the Bonin's importance.

16 Request by W.C. Stevenson, an Englishman residing in Yokohama, to go to the Bonins and engage in sugar manufacturing.

16-18 A story of Benjamin Pease is detailed here. His exploitation and his intention to have the Bonins as the U.S. territory.

19 Charles E. De Long 's secret communication to the Japanese Government regarding the Bonin Islands.

20 Indecision continues although there were various opinions, requests.

21-22 Meiji-maru anchored at Chichi-jima bay on Nov. 24, 1875. Detailed accounts are given including Pease's disappearance.

22-23 H.M.S. Curlew followed Meiji-maru to Chichi-jima. No incident. E. J. Church, the Captain of Curlew, went through the procedure to invalidate the declaration by Frederick Beachey, the Captain of English ship, Blossom, in 1827. (June 14) (Trans. Asiat Soc. of Japan, vol. IV.)

24 Reconfirmation from both U.S. and British governments about the territoriality of the Bonins.

24-25 Episode of Parkes not forgetting the Ebb’s.

Conclusion. It is almost impossible to go back beyond 1670 for the Japanese in relation to the Bonins, whereas the Spanish knew them in 1543.