NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By J.K. Yamamoto—The importance of friendships between individuals was emphasized at the opening ceremony of the 2010 America-Japan Grassroots Summit, held Aug. 25 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

The event, attended by about 200 delegates from Japan and their Bay Area hosts, had a direct connection to the very beginning of U.S.-Japan relations. Speakers included descendants of: the family that ruled Japan during the Edo period; the American who forced Japan to open its doors; the first Japanese to live in America; and the American captain who befriended and mentored him.

The Glide Ensemble from San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church started things off on a lively note with a few gospel numbers. The delegates were also treated to a videotaped greeting from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said he has had friendly relations with Japan from his days as a bodybuilder in the 1970s, throughout his film career, and more recently as a leader of trade missions from California.

Emcee Jan Yanehiro introduced special guests, including representatives from some of California’s 97 Japanese sister cities; host families from Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties; and the Hagiwara family, who founded the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in the 1890s.

Notable individuals in the audience included former San Francisco Giants pitcher Masanori Murakami, who became the first Japanese-born player to play in Major League Baseball in the 1960s; Aaron Woolfolk, the first African American director to film a movie in Japan (“The Harimaya Bridge”); Tom O’Doul, nephew of Lefty O’Doul, who is credited with establishing professional baseball in Japan; and Peter Kelley, president of the National Association of Japan-America Societies.

Yanehiro described one of the speakers, Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki, as a “non-stop” diplomat who had already visited the Japanese Tea Garden and San Jose Japantown and met with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison since arriving from Washington, D.C. the day before.

The John Manjiro Story

Fujisaki talked about Manjiro Nakahama, also known as John Manjiro. In 1841, Manjiro, a fisherman, and his crewmates were shipwrecked on a Pacific island and were rescued by an American whaling ship. Manjiro accompanied the ship’s captain, William Whitfield, back to Massachusetts and was educated there for a decade. Upon returning to Japan, which was still isolated from the rest of the world, Manjiro helped the government in its negotiations with Commodore Matthew Perry, who came to Japan in 1853, and accompanied the first Japanese embassy to the U.S. aboard the Kanrin Maru, which arrived in San Francisco in 1860.

“John Manjiro’s story is very well-known in Japan, but what intrigues us most is the following points,” the ambassador said. “One, because John Manjiro volunteered to come to the United States to learn about Western civilization — only one person out of all these sailors.

“Second point: Capt. Whitfield not only paid all expenses, but changed his church because his church didn’t accept John Manjiro.

“Third, Manjiro dared to go back to Japan, risking his own life because it was forbidden to go out of the country, to convey what he learned in America. He was instrumental in persuading the Tokugawa shogunate to open the country.

“Last point: the Whitfield family and Nakahama family continued their friendship over 150 years …. These things are most impressive about the John Manjiro story.”

Fujisaki added that the story illustrates “three C’s,” including the compassion that Whitfield showed to Manjiro and the courage that Manjiro needed to return to Japan.

Explaining the third “C,” continuity, he said, “The Japan-U.S. relationship has ups and downs. If I say that it has never been any better, I think I’m not true to myself. We have challenges today. However, I think that the fundamentals of our relationship are good … If you take any poll, 80 percent of Americans, 80 percent of Japanese say they like each other. That’s not true of many countries in the world.”

Fujisaki told the summit participants, “I think you should be proud … I hope that you will keep up this great work with the spirit of Whitfield and Manjiro.”

Friendships That Endure

Two more noted diplomats appeared on stage: Michael Armacost, former U.S. ambassador to Japan and the Philippines, and Taizo Watanabe, former consul general of Japan in Los Angeles, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, and Japanese ambassador to Egypt and Indonesia. Watanabe chairs the John Manjiro-Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange (CIE).

Armcost said that he was pleased to co-chair the event with Watanabe. “I think of these grassroots summits as being about friendship, and we’ve known each other for about 35 years. My wife even taught one of their daughters piano. So to preside over an occasion that brings families together as this does is a great privilege for me.

“I think these grassroots summits are all about the homestays and various friendships that endure. They promote understanding between our peoples. They’re pretty educational and I know they’re lots of fun. So I think anything that fosters this kind of exchange is a worthy cause and I’m happy to contribute to it.”

Armacost said he was introduced to the CIE by its president, Ichiro Ozawa, an old friend and former head of Japan’s governing Democratic Party. “I’ve admired the work they’ve done now for several decades.” Of Ozawa, he said, “I thought he was going to show up this week, but political events intervened, I gather.”

The former ambassador read a congratulatory message from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said that the U.S.-Japan partnership is based on “solid people-to-people connections.” He also delivered some remarks in Japanese, wishing the visitors a memorable week in the Bay Area.

Watanabe read a statement from Ozawa, who expressed regret at being unable to attend the meeting. Watanabe also poked fun at Fujisaki, whom he has known for 35 years. “Actually, I did not have such high expectations about him … (but) I should have known a Japanese named Ichiro should always excel in everything, and Mr. Fujisaki is no exception.”

Thanking the hundreds of volunteers who made the summit possible, Watanabe said that the program’s goal is “to foster deeper understanding of each other’s nations, not only through carrying out homestay programs, but also through learning as much as possible of each other’s societies, which seem to be so different from each other but have so much in common as well.”

Briefly introducing the evening’s special guests, Watanabe said that Tsunenari Tokugawa, the 18th descendant of shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, would describe the “internal peace and unique culture” that Japan enjoyed during his family’s 265-year rule; Dr. Matthew Perry, a fourth-generation descendant of Commodore Perry, would discuss the 1854 Treaty of Peace and Amity, which formally launched U.S.-Japan relations; and Kyo Nakahama and Robert Whitfield, fifth-generation descendants of Manjiro and Capt. Whitfield, would look back at the “heartwarming episode” that started the friendship between the two families.

The two countries have been friends “except for a short period of military conflict in the middle of the 20th century,” Watanabe acknowledged. “How and why the war started is a long-standing question being studied by serious scholars on both sides of the Pacific.”

At the same time, he said, “When we look at the challenges the world faces today, the changes the world is going through … serious racial, religious and social conflict ... (the fact that) the friendship of the two countries survived in the past 156 years could be a very important lesson for other countries and could send a very important message to future generations of all the people in the world.”

Acting Consul General Hideyuki Mitsuoka noted that this is a “fortuitous year” for the summit to be held in the Bay Area because of the 150th anniversary of the Kanrin Maru’s arrival. The consulate in San Francisco has coordinated several commemorative events, including visits by the tall ship Kaiwo Maru and the dedication of a plaque near the site where the Kanrin Maru docked.

The Tokugawa Years

Following a screening of “Friend Ships,” a short film about Manjiro and Capt. Whitfield by local documentarian Yuriko Gamo Romer, Tsunenari Tokugawa was introduced by Melissa Rinne, curator of Japanese art at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum.

Tokugawa, head of the main lineage of his family, described the first 200 years of Japan’s isolation as “a beautiful time” in terms of cultural development. But around 1800, he said, “pressures from outside” began, first from Russia, which was moving into Hokkaido, then from the U.S. “A huge number of whaling ships came across the Pacific Ocean, and of course they needed water and food. So their demand was, ‘Will you give us some kind of base?’ ” Additional pressure came from Britain and France, which had colonized India and Indochina, respectively.

While “the majority of people in Japan, including our emperor, wanted to maintain Japan as closed country,” Tokugawa continued, they received a “big shock” when “mighty China was beaten by the British and French so easily in the Opium War … The Japanese government asked for detailed reports from Chinese friends in Nagasaki … We realized we were totally lacking naval power. The reason that China was beaten so easily was the supply chain from the very rich southern agricultural area up to Beijing was totally cut by the naval power of the French and British.

“The same thing could happen to Japan. Tokyo at that time had a population of 1 million, one of the three biggest cities in the world. But the food supply, clothing, sake, miso, everything … came from coastal trade from western Japan.”

Advised by the Dutch more than a year in advance that Commodore Perry’s fleet was on its way, the Tokugawa government concluded that “we cannot maintain this seclusion any more” and “we immediately called Mr. John Manjiro … and we asked him, ‘What is America?’ ” Manjiro revealed amazing things about the U.S., such as the fact that its “king” was elected by the people every four years.

The turning point, Tokugawa said, came when Perry’s draft treaty was reviewed. It included a clause that was also in the U.S. treaty with China — “America clearly said, ‘We will not engage in opium trade with China.’ That gave a very good impression to Japan, and Japan immediately signed the contract.

“Of course, the majority of other Japanese were not so happy with the Tokugawa government because of its weakness … Nevertheless, that was a very good choice they made.”

He said that Manjiro’s ability to change the government’s mind was based on fond memories of his homestay with the Whitfield family. “I hope this entire meeting today will create another step forward, so maybe in 50 years’ time or 30 years’ time, this homestay group of young people may change the world.”

Perry’s Legacy

Dr. Perry said that reading Tokugawa’s book, “The Edo Inheritance,” gave him “a better appreciation of the positive aspects of the shogunate period seldom depicted in our popular media.”

Regarding his own family history, he added, “Historians have argued for many years about the importance of Commodore Perry’s actions and the need for military strength to negotiate the Treaty of Peace and Amity. The world will never know the consequences if the squadron of smoke-belching ships that frightened the Japanese onlookers had originated in England or in Russia and not the United States. Although Commodore Perry did use threats and intimidation as tactics to obtain his goals, he clearly was acting as a friendly emissary from the United States with clear guidance from the president.

“Our countries recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Kanagawa and now we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first delegation from Japan aboard the Japanese steamship Kanrin Maru. It’s important to celebrate these milestones in our history and continue to work for positive relations between our two countries.”

Dr. Perry said of Commodore Perry, “A very religious man himself, he resisted pressure from his chaplain to exploit opportunities for conversion. Through his own actions and manners, he convinced the Japanese that Americans were not barbarians and convinced the world the Japanese were not heathens. Epithets that stereotype a culture are counterproductive to a healthy relationship between people in other countries and should be avoided in public and private situations.”

Quoting Tokugawa as saying that “Japan is the only industrial nation in the world that has a civilization with a tradition of choosing to coexist with nature,” Perry said, “As a biologist interested in the environment, I know I share my views with Mr. Tokugawa and I hope we all can work together in two different countries to learn more about … our natural resources as we share our planet.”

A tribute to Manjiro by the Sendai-based Yuko Takahashi Dance Company, titled “Waves: Adrift in the Pacific,” followed. Music was provided by award-winning Tsugaru shamisen master Masato Shibata.

Passing the Torch

Kyo Nakahama, a historian and author, said, “I have been attending this summit since it was established in 1991. Every year, the summit gave me such a valuable experience.”

Of her family’s ties with the Whitfields, she predicted, “I’m very sure that this relationship will continue for the next 100 years.”

Nakahama introduced two youngsters representing her family’s sixth generation, her nephew and niece, Tomoyasu and Asuka Nakamura. “They want to study English at college in the United States, like John Manjiro.”

Robert Whitfield read a passage from the logbook of the whaling ship John Howland, written by Capt. Whitfield: “Sunday, June 27, 1841. This day light wind from S.E. Isle in sight at 1 p.m. Sent in two boats to see if there was any turtle, found five poor distressed people on the isle, took them off, could not understand anything from them more than that they was hungry.”

“The kindhearted captain took them aboard, saw that they were given medical attention, food and clothing,” Whitfield said. “The youngest survivor, Manjiro, endeared himself to Capt. Whitfield, who eventually took him to his port. Neither knew that this chance meeting and the events that followed would influence the course of two countries.”

When Manjiro arrived in San Francisco aboard the Kanrin Maru nearly 20 years later, “What a thrill this must have been … to see and visit America again,” Whitfield said. “For many of those in attendance, this will be your first visit and homestay in America. This historic city in California was an excellent choice. There is so much to see, the people are very friendly, the food is great. Even though your homestay will not be as long as Manjiro’s initial stay … my wish for you is that your friendships remain strong and unbroken as the almost 170-year friendship that’s shared between the Nakahama and Whitfield families. We, the descendants, cherish each other to this very day.”

Whitfield presented the two children with a globe that “symbolizes the world of brotherhood and friendship. They’ll take it back to Japan for the next Grassroots Summit, where another member of the Whitfield family will receive it again.”

Yanehiro announced that next year’s summit will be held in Kochi, Manjiro’s home prefecture.

Descendants of Damon

Nakahama introduced Julia and Esme Damon, “the sixth generation of Rev. Samuel Damon, who helped my ancestor Manjiro to return to Japan … I hope we all can keep in touch with each other and keep attending the next meetings for a long time.”

“One of the key elements of the Manjiro story that is often overlooked is the relationship that Manjiro shared with Samuel Damon, which began in Hawaii … Rev. Damon was serving as the seamen’s chaplain at the Bethel Church of the Port of Honolulu when he met Manjiro,” Esme Damon said.

“Shortly after their first encounter, Manjiro returned to the Whitfield home in Fairhaven, Mass, and then traveled on to California in search of gold. He returned to Honolulu in late 1850, eager to return home to see his mother in Japan. Using the money that he had earned from the Gold Rush, Rev. Damon helped him to acquire a small whaling boat, which he named the Adventure.

“He also obtained for Manjiro a U.S. passport and helped him devise a plan to get safely back to his homeland, which was not an easy task at the time … Next they loaded the Adventure onto a larger American vessel … which dropped the small boat off in the waters off present-day Okinawa.”

Julia Damon continued, “Before Manjiro left Honolulu, Rev. Damon discussed with him the importance of Japan opening its borders. He was sure that this extremely bright and experienced sailor, who was well educated in Massachusetts schools, would play a key role in forming a relationship between Japan and the outside world. In 1853 and again in 1854, when Commodore Perry’s ships arrived in Japan and barriers were gradually lowered, Manjiro, who had become a samurai, played a key role. John M. Brooke, an American naval officer who traveled aboard the Kanrin Maru between Japan and San Francisco with Manjiro, wrote in his journal … ‘Manjiro had more to do with the opening of Japan than any other man living.’ ”

On the way back to Japan, the Kanrin Maru stopped in Hawaii, allowing Manjiro to see Rev. Damon again, Julia Damon said. “Manjiro gifted Rev. Damon with … a sword as a token of his appreciation. This ancient sword was a gift of the shogunate and the box contained a staff of the last Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu, the 15th in the Tokugawa line. Rev. Damon was also taken aboard the Kanrin Maru to meet Capt. (Kaishu) Katsu. In return, Damon gifted Manjiro with a bound set of current issues of The Friend, a newspaper that Damon founded, edited and published. It contained Manjiro’s story.”

Esme Damon noted that Capt. Whitfield often contributed articles to The Friend and attended Rev. Damon’s church, and that the two co-founded the Honolulu Sailors’ Home, which, like the newspaper, still exists today. “Our father still holds on to the original sword that was given to Rev. Damon, which has been cherished in our family for six generations. Also very dear to us is the relationship that our family has continued to share with both the Nakahamas and the Whitfield families.”

The ceremony ended with the presentation of two paintings by local artist Potenza, who created heart designs based on the Japanese and American flags. The Grassroots Summit used her designs as a logo.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she told the delegates. “A year ago we were talking about this. and now you’re here.” She called Megumi Inouye, the summit’s executive director, “a magic-maker. She made this happen. She had a vision of having the heart of Japan and the heart of America together. I’m so grateful for that vision.”

A reception on the hotel’s top floor followed. Other summit activities included a visit to the Japanese Cemetery in Colma, where three crewmen from the Kanrin Maru are buried; Japanese Heritage Night with the Giants at AT&T Park; and tours of Wine Country, Gold Country, Silicon Valley, Monterey/Carmel/Salinas, and San Francisco’s Union Square.

For more information, including links for the 2011 gathering, visit www.JASummitSF2010.org.