April 4 1860
Issue 5
The American Times By Judy Mai “
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On March 24th, as many of you have seen, the samurai of Japan arrived in
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Governor, Monita
Portsmouth Square of San Francisco. To some of the people here, it was an exciting
Okataro; the Officer and
event, but to others, not so much. Many people may have different views about this.
Chief Interpreter, Nomura
Whether it is that the Japanese may pose a threat to the people living here, or whether
Gohatsiro; the Interpret-
they won’t be much of a problem.
ers, Tateshi Tokujuro and
As a special project, I have taken the liberty of getting information straight
Tateshi Onagero; the Doc-
from the ambassador himself. It took a few beers to get him to open up to me. I asked
tors; Meodake, Morauma,
him, “how was your trip to America?” He stated that it was a rough sail up until pass-
and Cowasaki.
ing Honolulu, Hawaii. After that, it was a smooth ride. I asked him for their reasoning in coming to America. He replied with how Perry used threats to scare them into opening trade with America. They were surprised at how advanced our technology was. For example, the gunboats that Perry brought with him to Japan and the guns the soldiers were holding. This gave them the idea of coming aboard to America and study from us. They also thought of trying to learn from our lifestyle, so they could use it as a rubric for their own. Some of the people who have come from Japan to America as representation are: the Ambassador of Japan, Sinme-Bujen-no Kami; the Vice Ambassador of Japan, Muragake Awage-no-kami; the Chief Censor, Ogure-Bungo-no-Kami; the Vice
Cartoon: Women’s Right By Judy Mai
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My Opinion on the Japanese Embassy On March 17, 1860, the Japanese Embassy, Vice-Ambassador Muragaki Norimasa, Ambassador Shinmi Masaoki and Oguri Tadamasa first landed on our shores. They seemed quite extraordinary. With their gifts, I, as a reporter thought they were quite unique. Their silk and clothes were something we have never touched or seen. There were also some symbols and art on the clothes that I thought were odd-looking. Their clothing seemed to have a symbol of a dragon along with roses and flowers. Whereas our clothes were plain and dusty. When they came, they were pretty polite. The Japanese were very talkative and the translator, Tateishi Onojirou Noriyuki, did an excellent job on interpreting. Also, when we were walking to our destination, the Japanese said they seemed quite fascinated with our American cannons and guns. When we got to our destination, we did most of the talking and told stories about our culture. We told them about Christianity, traditions, and celebrating holidays. In return, they were teaching us how to perform tea ceremony. It was unlike anything that I have ever done, but I think I can benefit from it. Another weird thing that I found about them were how the Japanese ate and their respect. They ate bowls of rice with what they called "hashi". In the beginning, none of us handled the “hashi� well but we eventually got better later on. Their manners were nothing like ours; they asked for a bowl of rice politely and said "arigato" whenever they get something. They call our names with a "-san" at the end, for example; "Roger-san." After a long day, the Japanese slept in our houses. In the morning, they said our beds were pretty comfortable when I asked them. Overall, my experience of the Japanese was nothing I ever had in my life. I have cherished this moment and wrote this to share my experiences with others.
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Article: The America-Japan Society. The first Japanese embassy to the United States of America. Tokyo: 1920. 170-73 Pictures: http://jcollector.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/japanese-tea-ceremony1.jpg http://www.historicsupplies.co.uk/hills%20guns/Henry-rifle-1860-octogonal.gif "Victorian Civil War Era Gray Silk Drawn Shirred Bonnet..". 1860-1960. 11 march 2010 <http://www.1860- 1960.com/ xc813p0.html>. "Victorian Embroidered Toque Ribbon Hat Bonnet.". 1860-1960. 11 march 2010 <http://www.1860-1960.com/ xc813p0.html>. "Saundra Ros Altman's: Past Patterns". Past pattern. 11 march 2010 <http://www.pastpatterns.com/018.html>.