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geography, mathematics, and navigation science.
Although Manjiro liked his second home, he
still dreamed about Japan, especially his mother
who undoubtedly thought that her son was dead.
He finally made up his mind to go home. This
was an extremely dangerous decision because at
that time Japan was still closed to the outside
world. By law, the punishment for any Japanese
leaving the country by choice or by misfortune
(like Manjiro) was death. The same punishment
applied to anyone - Japanese or foreign - who
tried to (re)enter the country.
Manjiro took the risk, and arrived in Japan in
1851. Fortunately for him, the political climate
was changing. After months of interrogation by
the authorities, he was allowed to return to his
hometown where he was happily reunited with
his mother. But two years, Manjiro's life was once
again changed by outside forces. This time, it was
the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's Black
Ships, an event that forced the Shogun to end
Japan's 250-year isolation from the outside world.
Japan was entering a new era, and Manjiro was
part of that change.
Thanks to his fluency in English, familiarity
with American culture and knowledge of Western
technology, Manjiro played a key role in building
diplomatic and commercial bridges between the
two nations. In addition to translating into
continued on page 18 >