Ancient Drifters

January 7th, 2024

“The Hojun-Maru was not the ‘first’ but was, in fact, one of 100 known Asian drift boats that have crossed the Pacific accidentally. (The last one to arrive came ashore on the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1987, empty.)” – Daniel Wood, The Tyee

For most of us in the United States, no ocean current is better known than the Gulf Stream. It begins in the Gulf of Mexico, flows up the eastern seaboard, then crosses the Atlantic to Europe. Its warm waters help regulate temperatures across two continents.  There’s an equivalent current in the western Pacific Ocean as well. It flows past Taiwan and along the eastern coast of Japan before turning toward the Pacific. It’s known as the Kuroshio Current. The name is a Japanese word that means “black stream” – because the current is much darker than the surrounding waters – the result of lower amounts of organic material at the surface.

The Kuroshio is the biggest current in the western Pacific. It begins off the coast of the Philippines, where a current that flows westward across the Pacific splits in two. The Kuroshio forms the northern branch. It travels almost 2,000 miles before it begins moving away from land. The current is strongest from May to August, with a smaller surge in winter. A recent study found that at its peak, it can be up to 50 miles wide, and flow at three or four miles per hour. Its average surface temperature is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit – several degrees warmer than the surrounding ocean. That helps keep southern Japan relatively warm. Over the centuries, the Kuroshio has carried many ships away from Japan. An extension of the current has then ferried some of them to Hawaii or even North America – a journey that began in the Gulf Stream of the Pacific. Kuroshio Current Jan. 3, 2016 By Damond Benningfield https://www.scienceandthesea.org/program/201601/kuroshio-current]]


Did Ancient Drifters ‘Discover’ British Columbia?   Legends and bits of evidence tell a story of Asians arriving here long, long ago … by design or by chance. ~ Daniel Wood, 3 Apr 2012, TheTyee.ca

“As the tide creeps over the sand flats, estuaries and beaches of the Pacific Coast, from the northern Alaska Panhandle to the southern reaches of Baha California, it brings ashore the flotsam of the Pacific that – on occasion – hints at extraordinary travels and a mystery of historic proportions. Amid the kelp, in decades past, hundreds of green-glass fishing floats would arrive intact on the Vancouver Island coast, having ridden the powerful Japanese Kuroshio Current in year-long transits from Asia. On rare occasions, entire ships would arrive – like the derelict, Hokkaido-based, 54-metre squid-fishing boat located recently 260 kilometers off Haida Gwaii archipelago, part of the estimated 5 million tons of debris headed this way from the 2011Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Even more rarely, ‘ghost ships’ would carry survivors of this slow drift, men who spoke Chinese, or Japanese. Such was the case of the Hyojun Maru (sic) that was left rudderless in a typhoon off Japan and drifted for 14 months before being washing up in 1834 on the Cape Flattery headlands. It contained three living sailors. It is, in fact, one of 100 known Asian drift boats that have crossed the Pacific by accident. (The last one to arrive came ashore on the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1987, empty.)

No one knows the source of early iron implements in the Pacific Northwest – where iron was unknown; or the origin of the 100 Asian plants and human parasites that suddenly appeared in Latin America a few millennia ago; or the recently revealed linguistic similarities between early Chinese-Tibetan and Mayan words. How did the bones of chickens – an Asian fowl from Samoa – get into a prehistoric American garbage pile? What explains the unmistakable links between Japanese and New Mexico Zuni First Peoples’ blood type, religion and language? These Asian influences appear to have arrived abruptly within the past 1,500 years.

Where does coincidence end and ‘fact’ begin? Were Asian watercraft crossing the Pacific long before Europeans crossed the Atlantic? The first clues to this supposition may have been reports from Bella Coola (Central B.C.) fishermen of glass Japanese fishing floats entangled in their nets. Could it be that the east-flowing ocean currents that were bringing Japanese fishing floats to Bella Coola also ‘accidently’ carried primitive vessels across the Pacific from Asia?

David Burley, chair of Simon Fraser University’s Department of Archeology, admits, “People moved from west to east across the Pacific. If the Polynesians hit tiny Easter Island [off Chile] – and they did – they had to hit South America. If they got to Hawaii – and they did – they got to the Pacific Northwest.” There are Ainu totem poles from northern Japan, he adds, that are almost identical to West Coast totem poles. There’s old Polynesian bark cloth that’s identical to native cedar cloth here. “

Maybe it’s time to follow the old myths, like the native myths of people arriving long, long before the appearance of the first Europeans. Like the Chinookan myths repeated to a boy named Ranald MacDonald.

The story starts when a disabled coastal trading vessel off central Japan drifted across the Pacific Ocean and “beached” on the Olympic Peninsula coast in early 1834 . . . The Hojun-Maru, with a crew of 14, set out on October 11, 1832 from the port of Onoura on the southeast coast of Japan, laden with a cargo of rice and porcelain. The ‘junk’ was caught in a typhoon, stripped of its rudder, and carried out to sea. After drifting for about 14 months across 5,000 miles of ocean, Hojun-Maru washed ashore. The precise location is unknown, but evidence points to Cape Alava, about 20 miles south of Cape Flattery, adjacent to the ancient Makah fishing village of Ozette. Left alive were the ship’s navigator, Iwakichi, age 28, and two apprentice cooks, Kyukichi, age 15, and Otokichi, age 14. Like most of the rest of the crew, they were from the village of Onoura, then a port city, now a beach resort. Their names are known in part because of a memorial erected by their fellow towns-people shortly after their ship disappeared.  The three survivors promptly encountered a group of Makah seal hunters. Neither the Japanese nor the Makah would have had any idea that the other existed. Japan had been sealed off from the rest of the world for more than 200 years, and the Makah had had only limited contact with European fur traders. In any case, the Makah took command of the situation and claimed the sailors as captives.

Cape Alava on the NW coast of WA – could this be the beach where the Hojun-Maru castaway?  

The Makah reportedly retrieved a number of items from the beached ship. [Fragments of ceramic bowls believed to have been on the Hojun-maru were later found on Makah land at Cape Alava.] Alexander C. Anderson, an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, reported meeting a group of Indians at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1834 who “produced a map with some writing in Japanese characters; a string of the perforated copper coins of that country; and other convincing proofs of a shipwreck”. But the Hojun-Maru apparently broke up and sank before much could be salvaged from it.[i]


[i] https://www.historylink.org/File/9068

“San-Kichi” Timeline, Oct. 1832 to Nov. 1834

January 5th, 2024

~~To clarify to anyone who still believes Ranald MacDonald met the three ‘Castaways’ at Ft. Vancouver~~

Oct. 11, 1832 – Hojun-Maru shipped out of Onoura, Japan

Jan. 29, 1834 – News of a ship wreck on the north coast of Oregon Territory was reported at Ft. Nisqually;

March 23, 1834 – a search team was dispatched by John McLoughlin;

April 20, 1834 – Ranald MacDonald (10 years) left Ft. Vancouver for the Red River Colony to attend school there;

May 1834 – A.C. Anderson approached at Cape Disappointment by an Indian woman with coins and pottery shards, indicating they were from a shipwreck;

May 28, 1834 – John McLoughlin informs HBC of the shipwreck, identifying it as Chinese;

June 9, 1834 – Captain William McNeill, Llama, successfully recovered all 3 Japanese castaways;

July 1834 – the Japanese castaways were brought to Ft. Vancouver – Capt. Wm. McNeill, Llama

Nov. 15, 1834 – handed the three Japanese sailors into the care of Captain Darby of the brig Eagle bound for England

* * * * * * * * *

In Memorium

March 28th, 2021
Dick-Slagle-2018.jpg
Richard “Dick” Slagle, 1919-2021

A few days ago we received the somber news that Richard “Dick‟ Slagle, one of the original pillars in the story of Ranald MacDonald, died peacefully at home in Republic, Washington on February 9, 2021 at age 101. Those FOM members who traveled with us to Republic and then on to Toroda were lucky enough to meet Mr. Slagle in 2018 at the Ferry County Historical Society Museum in Republic, when the Friends of MacDonald celebrated our 30th anniversary.  数日前、「私の父親で、ラナルド・マクドナルドのストーリーを語る上で初期の重要人物の一人であったと思われるリチャード ディック スレーグルは、去る2021年2月9日にワシントン州リパブリックの自宅で101歳の人生を全う、安らかに永眠しました」という訃報を娘さんのジィ―ン・ディレーニー夫人から受け取った。FOM創立30周年記念行事の一環としてラナルドの墓参にトロダへ行ったFOMメンバー有志一行は、その途中リパブリックへ寄り、フェリー郡歴史協会博物館で幸運にも、スレーグル翁と握手、歓談、共に記念撮影をする事ができた。それは2018年8月22日の事だった。

In the last sentence of his daughter’s message to us, she wrote the following: “I do want to share, however, the one thing I’ve realized in recent days is that my Dad, Dick Slagle, had many layers of commitment, and he left us all with a huge gift of meaning, continuity, and connection.  I’m very thankful for that.”  As you read through this message, we know you, too, will come to appreciate her words.  ジィ―ン夫人は彼女の手紙の最後に次のように述べて居る。「最近悟った事で、皆さんとシェアーしたい事ですが、 父、ディック・スレーグルは、生前この世に幾重にも及ぶ約束事や関りを持ち、それらの意義、継続性、更には多くのコネという偉大なギフトを残して行きました。私はその事に深く感謝しています。」と。 このニューズレターを読む事によって、読者の皆さんも彼女の言葉をより良く理解する事でしょう。

Dick was born to Elizabeth and J.W. “Jesse” Slagle on July 4, 1919 – joining his 9-year-old brother Maury. Younger-brother Dave was born in 1921. [The family had lost four-year-old Eleanor in 1917.]  Dick’s mother, Elizabeth, came to Republic as an elementary school teacher in 1904, and his father, Jesse started the Republic Drug Store that same year. They were married in 1909. Elizabeth was from St. Clair, Missouri, and Jesse was from Franklin, North Carolina.  ディックは1919年7月4日に、母エリザベスと父J.W.“ジェッシー”スレーグルの間に生まれ、9歳年上の兄モウリ―に加わった。  弟のデイブは1921年に生まれた。[家族は1917年に4歳の妹エレノアを失った.] ディックの母親のエリザベスは1904年に小学校の教師としてリパブリックに来て、父親のジェシーは、同じ年にリパブリックで薬局を始めた。二人は1909年に結婚。エリザベスはミズーリ州セントクレア出身で、ジェシーはノースカロライナ州フランクリン出身でした。

Dick loved Republic and all the surrounding mountains. He had many adventures with his close friend Johnny Anderson, and explored the hills to the west of town with Jack Summerville. He delivered The Spokesman-Review and knew where everyone lived in town. His first job was working for the Forest Service, and he became an Eagle Scout. Dick graduated from Republic High School in 1937. In 1942, Dick graduated from Washington State College (now WSU) in pharmacy, spent the summer on White Mountain lookout, and was soon drafted into the Army. He was stationed at Camp Grant in Salt Lake City, Utah, then Rockford, Illinois, and was transferred to Normandy, France in September of 1944 (after D-day). In France, he worked as a pharmacist in a tent hospital unit of 3000 patients near Lison, and worked at hospitals in Metz, Rouen, and Liege, Belgium. 50 years later in 1994, he was able to travel back to those locations in France with his nephew, Tom. Dick worked with his brother Maury in the Republic Drug Store for 40 years. He married his wife Helen in 1951. Jack was born in 1953, and Jean in 1955. After Helen’s death, Dick married Ruth in 1998.  ディックはリパブリックとその周辺のすべての山々を愛していた。親友のジョニー・アンダーソンと多くの冒険をし、ジャック・サマービルと一緒に町の西の丘を探検した。彼はスポークスマン・レビュー紙を配達していたので、誰が町のどこに住んでいるかを知り尽くしていた。彼の最初の仕事は林野庁で、ボーイスカウトではイーグル・スカウトになった。ディックは1937年にリパブリック高校を卒業。1942年に、薬学でワシントン州立大学(現在のWSU)を卒業、夏をホワイトマウンテンの山火事見晴らし台で過ごし、その後すぐに陸軍に徴兵された。彼はユタ州ソルトレイクシティのグラント基地へ、次にイリノイ州ロックフォード基地に駐屯し、1944年9月(D-dayの後)にフランスのノルマンディーに移送された。フランスでは、リソン近郊の3000人の患者からなるテント病院で米陸軍薬剤師として働き、ルーエンのメッツとベルギーのリエージュの病院でも働いた。(50年後の) 1994年に、ディックは甥のトムと一緒にフランスのそれらの場所に旅行で再び訪れる事ができた。ディックは兄のモーリーとリパブリックのドラッグストアで40年間働いていた。彼は1951年に妻のヘレンと結婚、息子ジャックが1953年に生まれ、娘ジィーンは1955年に生まれた。最初の妻ヘレンの死後、ディックは1998年にルースと再婚。

Dick loved to travel, enjoyed Curlew Lake, and was refreshed by getting out into the Colville National Forest, and he was dedicated to the conservation of the Kettle Range. At home, he loved to read, and was always happy to have a cat on his lap. He was a person of faith, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He understood the value of preserving local history and was a founding member of the Ferry County Historical Society. He was the local weather observer for the National Weather Service for 50 years.  ディック・スレーグル翁は旅行が大好きで、カールー湖を楽しみ、コービル国有林に行ってリフレッシュし、ケトル山脈の保全に尽くした。 家では読書が大好きで、その際、彼の膝の上に猫が居るのは常だった。 彼は信心深く、長老派教会の信者だった。 彼は地元の歴史を保存することの価値を理解し、フェリー郡歴史協会創設メンバーの一人だった。 スレーグル翁は約50年間、国立気象庁の地元の気象観測者でも在った。

In lieu of flowers, FOM suggests a contribution may be made to:

The Ferry County Historical Society

P.O. Box 287

Republic, WA 99166-0287 USA

Gates Ajar, Vol.1 No. 2 Winter 1988-89 – ARCHIVES

March 28th, 2021
Dick-Slagle-original-grave-photos-1937.jpg

1938  FOM MEMBER Richard M. (Dick) Slagle of Republic, WA (second from right), was in the party which placed a cast concrete marker on the grave in 1938.  He took photos of the ceremony with his “little $1 box camera”.

“I was a recent high school graduate,” he writes, “and in June of that year was approached by our local scoutmaster …  He had been asked to have the Boy Scout troop participate in a ceremony at a grave and to make a marker.  Not having any other information and only several days’ time, we set about the task of making a cement cross.  When the cement was poured we scratched in the name as neatly as we could:  “Ranald MacDonald”.

“On the day of the ceremony we loaded the cross into a school bus and rode to the Kettle River location, about 30 miles north of Republic.  It was a warm summer day and about a dozen or so people assembled in the little Indian cemetery on the edge of a bench.  It overlooks the Kettle River, the mouth of Toroda Creek and the ranch where Ranald MacDonald was visiting at the time of his death.

Jenny-Lynch-original-grave-photos-1937.jpg
Jennie Nelson Lynch, circa 1938

“Among the people gathered were Judge William C. Brown of Okanogan, a man with a lifelong interest in regional history and especially the history of the native people.  Judge Brown had organized the event and as he spoke I first heard the story of Ranald MacDonald.  “However, the high point of the program was to hear Mrs. Jennie Lynch (the former Jennie Nelson).  At that time she was probably in her 70’s, an active Indian lady and a favorite of her uncle Ranald.  As our group stood on this spot and looked over the scenic Kettle River valley she told the story of her memories of her uncle and his fondness to visit their ranch and of his last trip and final illness … “ … in 1894, Ranald died in the arms of his beloved niece, Jenny Lynch, saying “Sayonara, my dear, sayonara”.

ワシントン州リパブリックのFOMメンバー、リチャードM.“ディック”スレーグルは、1938年にラナルド・マクドナルドの墓にコンクリート製手作りの十字架/墓標を設置する式典に参加した。その時、彼は「小さな 1ドルのボックスカメラ」で式典の様子を写真に収めていた。 「私は最近高校を卒業しました」と彼は書き出し、更に「その年の6月に地元のスカウトマスターから連絡があり・・・彼曰く、ボーイスカウト部隊で墓標を作って用意し、式典に参加するよう頼まれた・・・と云ってきました。」と。他の情報はなく、ほんの数日で、セメント製十字架(墓標)を作る作業に着手しました。セメントが枠に注がれ終わった時、私たちはできる限り丁寧に名前を刻み込みましたRanald MacDonaldと。 「式典の日に、私たちはコンクリート製十字架をスクールバスに積み込み、リパブリックの北約30マイルにあるケトル川の近くの場所に辿り着きました。暖かい夏の日で、小高い丘の端にある小さなインディアン墓地に十数人ほどの人々が集まりました。そこはトロダクリーク河口のケトル川、そしてラナルドが亡くなった時に訪れていた牧場が見渡せる場所でした。そこに集った人々の中に、ウィリアムC.ブラウン裁判官が居りました。彼は 地域史に生涯関心を持つお方、特にオカノガン地域の先住民の歴史に関し。ブラウン裁判官がイ ベントを組織し、彼が話し始めた時私は初めてラナルド・マクドナルドのストーリーを聞きました。しかし、 プログラムのハイポイントはジェニー・リンチ夫人(旧姓 ジェニー・ネルソン)の話を聞くことでした。当時 彼女はおそらく70歳代だったでしょう。活動的なインディアン女性で 叔父ラナルドのお気に入りの姪でした。彼女は、風光明媚なケトルリバーバレーを見渡しながらいつも彼女たち所有の牧場訪問を楽しみにしていた叔父ラナルドとの思い出や彼の最後の旅、最後の病いの話等を語ってくれました。    『・・・1894年にラナルドは姪ジェニー・リンチの腕の中で息を引き取りました「サヨナラ マイ ディヤ― サヨナラ」と云って・・・』  

海の祭礼-Festival of the Sea – Translated into English by Prof. Stephen Kohl

June 28th, 2020

Preface by Stephen Kohl, Sirius Woods, 2019

Festival-of-the-Sea.jpg           I first met Mr. Akira Yoshimura in the autumn of 1988 at a meeting of the Friends of MacDonald in Tokyo. I had read Umi No Sairei (Festival of the Sea) and was fascinated to hear him speak of the countless trips he had made to Nagasaki to gather materials for that book. I suggested that I thought it would be a good idea to translate this work into English. There were several reasons for this. First of all, putting the text into English would make it available to an extended audience. Secondly, at that time the only account of Ranald MacDonald’s adventure in Japan was his autobiography – which was necessarily limited to what MacDonald himself had personally seen and experienced. Festival of the Sea provides a much broader context for MacDonald’s story by showing us how it appeared from a Japanese perspective. Yoshimura’s work also concludes with an extended account of the career of Moriyama Einosuke, MacDonald’s star “pupil”. This establishes the true value and legacy of MacDonald’s experience in a way that Ranald MacDonald himself never knew.

After that initial meeting with Mr. Yoshimura, time passed and in 1997 Jo Ann Roe published Ranald MacDonald: Pacific Rim Adventurer, which began to put MacDonald’s experience into a broader context. In 2003 Frederik L. Schodt published Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan. In this work, he provided much more context and relied on numerous Japanese sources including Umi no Sairei, but still, we see the story primarily from Macdonald’s perspective. I felt that Yoshimura’s work provided an important counterpoint perspective, so I undertook to make a translation. I wrote to Mr. Yoshimura, and with his encouragement, I did make a rough translation, but life intervened and I never did accomplish more than a rough draft. Then Mr. Yoshimura died and the project languished. In 2017, however, Mr. Sekikawa Natsuo invited me to participate in a symposium at the Yoshimura Akira Memorial Library. I was unable to do so, but Mr. Sekikawa’s enthusiasm inspired me to go back and revise my earlier draft of the translation and bring it to completion.

Yoshimura Akira was born into a merchant family in the downtown (Nippori) section of Tokyo.  From an early age, however, he was more interested in literature than in business.  Through his college years and beyond he wrote and published stories, and in the late 1950s and 60s several of his works were nominated for the prestigious Akutagawa Prize [a Japanese literary prize awarded semiannually for the best work of fiction by a promising new Japanese writer]. Although he was never awarded that prize, his reputation was firmly established in 1966 at the age of thirty-nine with the publication of The Battleship Musashi (Senkan Musashi). In this work he pioneered a new genre, what has come to be called “documentary fiction”. He collected detailed information from historical records and from interviews with people involved to explain the significance of the construction of the Battleship Musashi. In the process of describing the building of the ship, he also created an essay on the nature of modern war. His insight was that, engaged in modern, all-out war, the Japanese people had to use everything in their power to try to prevail. The symbol for that effort was the Battleship Musashi. In the end, of course, it was a failed effort, but nevertheless it was a valiant and committed effort which reflected the dedication and commitment of the Japanese people as a nation. That was what Yoshimura celebrated in his work.

Although Yoshimura continued to write fiction with contemporary settings, he is primarily known for his history-based documentary fiction, and from 1980 on his interest turned to late Edo-period Japan. Since he could not interview the participants in the events he dealt with, he thoroughly researched the diaries, letters, and other documents pertaining to his subject. He made repeated trips to the site where events took place to the point where he could even actually describe the weather at the time and place certain events occurred. We might way that even though he was writing fiction, he included as little fiction as possible in his works. Yoshimura hinted at a possible reason for this: in a middle school composition class, he once wrote an essay entitled “My Father’s Hand” – and although his father was alive and well at the time, in the essay he described his father’s body laid out in a coffin. On the back of his father’s hand was a large mole, which he caressed with his fingertips. He wrote that this was the first time he had experienced the sensation of touching his father’s skin – as the eighth of none sons his father had never taken him by the hand and he had therefore never had the opportunity to touch his father’s skin. Yoshimura’s teacher thought this was an excellent essay and read it aloud to the class, but when his father read it he was furious, shouting, “You have written something here which has no basis in fact!” Perhaps it was from this experience that Yoshimura showed such devotion to getting the ‘facts’ right.

In his historical fiction, Yoshimura often wrote about those who had been overlooked in historical accounts. Frederik Schodt has described Ranald MacDonald as “a man who did an extraordinary thing and then fell through the cracks of history”. In this sense MacDonald was a prime subject for Yoshimura’s pen. Moriyama Einosuke, who figures prominently in Festival of the Sea, is another case in point. Having proven himself as Japan’s most accomplished interpreter of English, Moriyama played a crucial role in crafting the Bafuku’s (Shogunate) first treaties with all the other countries of the world. Moriyama negotiated with Commodore Perry, and later with Townsend Harris, but he also negotiated treaties with all the other European countries that demanded a role in the opening of Japan. In the 1850s and 1860s, Moriyama was virtually the only person who knew both sides of the equation – what a treaty said in English and what it said in Japanese. Both sides relied on him to ensure that they agreed on the same things. He continued with his work under enormous pressure, for truly the destiny of the Japanese Nation was on his shoulders. Once the new Meiji government took power, Moriyama disappeared from sight until Yoshimura redirected our attention to him. Moriyama’s disappearance from the scene was only partly due to the fact that the new Meiji government wanted its own interpreters, not those of the old Tokugawa government. It was also the case that Moriyama was simply burned out by the time the regime change too place. Some historians have held Moriyama responsible, unfairly in my opinion, of having led Japan to agree to ‘unequal treaties’. Indeed, those treaties he helped negotiate were unequal, but they also protected japan from being colonized by one or more of the Great powers, yet the indignity of the treaties rankled and some blamed Moriyama. So for many reasons Moriyama had been largely ignored by historians until Yoshimura illuminated his crucial role in the opening of Japan.

We see something similar in the case of Hori Tatsunosuke, another interpreter and contemporary of Moriyama, about whom Yoshimura wrote in his historical novel Kurofune. Hori is known to history as the first Japanese to have a meaningful encounter with Commodore Perry’s squadron. He stepped aboard the Susquehanna and uttered three words in English: “I speak Dutch.” Hori was recognized as a man of competence as an interpreter of Dutch, but he had the ill luck to be stationed in Edo during the winter of 1848-49 and so was unable to receive tutelage in English from Ranald MacDonald. Throughout his career he was overshadowed by Moriyama who, thanks to MacDonald, had a greater facility in Spoken English and was able to consort more comfortably with foreigners. So, Hori experienced frustration and embarrassment, but he persevered, and in the end was able to make the transition to the new Meiji government which Moriyama did not (could not) do. And Hori compiled a Japanese-English dictionary – which Moriyama had begun to do but had not completed. Hori also became a respected teacher of English, an endeavor Moriyama rarely had time for.  In Yoshimura’s telling, perseverance paid off for Hori and in his own way had made a meaningful and lasting contribution to the opening of Japan. But he, too, has been largely forgotten. Yoshimura recognized this and clarified Hori’s role in history.

One of the hallmarks of Yoshimura’s historical fiction is the celebration of those forgotten figures who, through their dedication and perseverance, have made meaningful and lasting contributions. Certainly we see this in Festival of the Sea where Ranald MacDonald had the courage and determination to wade ashore alone in a country where foreigners were forbidden to set foot, and in Moriyama, who stood exposed and alone as Japan’s spokesman to the other nations of the world. These were remarkable men who did remarkable things, and Yoshimura Akira was the bard who brought their stories to life. ~ S.K.

*** Associate Professor Emeritus, Japanese Literature; Asian Studies, East Asian Languages. Stephan Kohl has published extensively on Japanese literature.

Gates Ajar June. 2020 Vol.32 No.1 ~ Following in the Footsteps of our Illustrious Ancestor: Ranald MacDonald by Emily Cole

June 28th, 2020

Ranald MacDonald was the first son of Hudson’s Bay Company Chief Factor Archibald McDonald. Our mother, Jean Murray Cole, Archibald MacDonald’s great-great granddaughter, has written extensively about both Archibald and Ranald. My sister Catherine and I were raised on stories of their adventures.

Cole-sisters-at-Rishiri-Monument-2019.jpg

Cole sisters at MacDonald Monument, Rishiri Island

On August 25, 2019, we travelled to Rishiri Island to see where Ranald landed in 1848.

Catherine lives in Edmonton, Alberta and works as a heritage consultant. I live in Toronto, Ontario and where I work as a lawyer. We flew from our respective homes in Canada and met at the Sapporo airport to board the plane to Rishiri Island.

Mr. Eiji Nishiya welcomed us at the Rishiri Island airport, and that evening we met with him and two teachers from Rishiri High SchView "Emily and Toshi at the peak 2019"ool, Mr. Toshi Kano and Ms. Mayumi Nakanishi, to discuss our itinerary for the next few days. The next day Mr. Nishiya and Catherine hiked Mount Pon (444M) and Mr. Kano and I climbed to the peak of Rishiri Fuji (1790 M). Catherine and I enjoyed the onsen in the hotel that evening. 

            Mr. Nishiya gave us a tour of the Island by car on our second day on Rishiri; we visited Ranald MacDonald’s landing place with the monument commemorating his arrival as well as the place where he was imprisoned. We were quite moved as we stood on the beach. It was a windy day and we could imagine how Ranald felt as he navigated his small boat towards the island. We each collected a stone from the landing place as a memento. Mr. Nishiya also introduced us to some local fisher-people who were preparing sea urchins they had harvested. They cracked one open and invited us to taste the fresh uni. Mr. Nishiya collected a glass float from near their cabin for each of us to take home as a souvenir. Little did we know this would not be our last fishing experience on Rishiri.  Later that afternoon, we visited Rishiri High School where we were greeted by the Principal and Vice Principal. We were surprised to learn that the school has 71 students and 24 teachers. This is a very high ratio of teachers to students compared to North America. We then went to Ms. Nakanishi’s classroom of students aged 15-16 years old. Catherine gave a PowerPoint presentation to the students about Ranald’s early life and his later years in North America. Several of the students gave presentations about Japanese culture and food and Rishiri Island flowers. They presented us with beautiful cream puffs and a local drink so that we could sample Japanese sweets. They then asked us questions about Canada. We gave the students tokens of our appreciation: Canadian flag pins and Hudson Bay Company bookmarks. That evening Mr. Nishiya, Mr. Kano and Ms. Nakanishi joined us for dinner at the Rishiri Island Inn. The next day, we visited the museum in the morning and went sea kayaking in the afternoon. To our surprise, we were not paddling, but fishing in the Sea of Japan!  Catherine caught a 14 kilogram hamachi fish. We took the hamachi to our hotel in hopes the chef would prepare it for us. The hotel declined so Mr. Nishiya took the fish to a sushi restaurant. That evening we talked about how fortunate we were to have started our first visit in Japan on Rishiri Island and experience the warm and generous hospitality of our host Mr. Nishiya, Mr. Kano and Ms. Nakanishi.  

We met at the hotel on the morning of our last day on the island. Mr. Nishiya and Mr. Kano took us out for ramen at the famous restaurant. It was a very stormy day and we wondered whether we, like Ranald, would remain on Rishiri but went to the airport and were able to fly to Sapporo, connect to Kyoto and, after a week of meetings, eventually Tokyo.  We met Ranald MacDonald scholars, Mr. Yuji Aisaka and Ms. Yuko Imanishi, for dinner at a restaurant on the Kamo River in Kyoto.  We also met Profs. Toshi Tanaka and Norie Yazu of the Japanese Association for Canadian Studies and enjoyed tori-suki at a restaurant in Tokyo.  

We look forward to a future visit when we’ll be able to go to Nagasaki to follow that chapter of Ranald’s story. On return to Canada, Catherine spoke to the Japanese-Canadian Seniors Group in Edmonton about our experience and they were very interested to learn about Ranald’s life. Next year is the 40th anniversary of the sister province relationship between Hokkaido and Alberta.

We really appreciated the generous hospitality extended to us by all of the people who hosted us on Rishiri Island, in Kyoto and in Tokyo. We hope to continue to build relationships with our friends in Japan through Ranald’s story and look forward to our next visit.   

     ~~ Emily Cole

 

Keeping Up With Rishiri Students

February 14th, 2019

Last year – 2018 – was quite a year for Friends of MacDonald.  Not only did FOM as a committee of the Clatsop County Historical Society reach its 30th year of existence, the “Ranald MacDonald Short-term Study Abroad Program” at Rishiri high school also reached its sixth year in 2018.  Although times and members change, I think I can speak for everyone in wishing that both organizations remain healthy and continue to grow for many more decades.

            Due to the large number of brain cells that were devoted to organizing and then accomplishing the Friends of MacDonald 30th Anniversary Luncheon, Annual Meeting and Group Excursion to the northern reaches of Washington State to memorialize our organization with a visit to Ranald’s last resting place we realized that we postponed reporting another successful visitation by students from Rishiri high school to Astoria, Oregon, and to Spokane and Toroda, Washington in 2017.  We will remedy that omission in this, the first issue of the Friends of MacDonald Newsletter as it enters its 31st year of ‘publication’ – and will continue our report on the 2018 students in the next (to be published shortly, we hope and intend).

            We went into some detail in Gates Ajar Vol. 30, No. 1 that was published in March of 2018 about our visit to Rishiri High School in December of 2017, and briefly introduced Jin Hiranuma and Mako Sato, the two Rishiri students who visited Astoria and points beyond in the autumn of 2017, but regretfully overlooked the in-depth report that we have given other students from Rishiri. Jin and Mako will both graduate from high school in April 2019 and are planning on attending university in Japan. We have no doubt whatsoever that they will be successful in anything they try.

「光陰矢のごとし!」とは良く言ったもの、「矢のごとし」とまでは言わないまでも、年々時の経過が早まっているような錯覚を覚え、この名言に同感、感心している自分の存在に気付く機会が最近増えて居ります。思うに2018年はマクドナルド友の会(FOM)創立30周年記念行事とラナルド・マクドナルドの没後125周忌の墓参の準備や実行、事後処理に明け暮れてしまいました。 その影響で利尻高校生の短期留学プログラムの様子や、成果伝達の機会を失っていた事に気付き、この度、Gates Ajar の臨時号を発行、皆さんにお届けする次第です。

2017年秋には、利尻高校2年生の平沼 迅君と佐藤真恋さんの二人が選抜され、同校英語教諭、相澤沙織先生の付き添いでポートランド国際空港へやって参りました。

例年の事ですが、一行はラナルド・マクドナルドの出生地であるオレゴン州アストリア市内で米人生徒の家庭にホームステイしながらアストリア高校で授業に参加したり、ラナルドのゆかりの地ワシントン州東部では、FOMスポケン支部長の月森愛鶴美夫人の案内でコルビル高校を訪問したり、トロダのラナルドの墓地へ参拝、利尻島からの小石を捧げたり、貴重な体験をした後、シアトル空港経由、無時利尻島へお帰りになりました。

このお三方のレポートを掲載しますのでお楽しみ下さい。

Rishiri Report – March 2018

March 15th, 2018

Alice and I visited Japan in December last year.  On the 11th we flew from Narita in Tokyo to the New Chitose Airport near Sapporo; the next day – Dec. 12th – we flew from Okadama Airport in Sapporo to Rishiri Airport … under the provision that, IF the weather around Rishiri Airport was not suitable for the plane to land, the plane would turn around and return to Okadama Airport.  Fortunately, when we arrived at Rishiri Airport, the weather had turned favorable for landing.  Our understanding is that there had been a blizzard prior to our plane’s arrival, and up until the last several minutes landing was not a guarantee.

We were met at the airport by Rev. Kyouji Furukawa, Chairman of the “MacDonald Scholarship Fund Support Group”, Mr. Eiji Nishiya, Deputy Manager of MSFSG, Mr. Motomura, Principal of Rishiri High School (who officially invited us to come to Rishiri) and Ms. Nakanishi and Ms. Suzuki, teachers and two of the familiar faces from Rishiri High School, who had each chaperoned students to America in recent years.

Snowy Hokkaido … in particular the “real middle-of-winter on Rishiri Island” – for several years now Alice and I have discussed going to see the deep snow on Hokkaido.  Out of nowhere, a request came from Rishiri High School Principal Motomura for me to go and give a lecture there in December.  It did not take any time at all for us to decide and to respond positively for going.  The Hokkaido Board of Education designated Rishiri High School to be an “Improving English Language Education” research school.  Also, for the past 5 years Rishiri High School has sent students to America as part of their “short-term overseas study program” to encourage learning English.  The lectures relating to the project at the high school and a review of the project were to be held at Rishiri High School on December 15th. It was Principal Motomura’s suggestion that we try to arrive a few days in advance since ‘bad weather’ could jeopardize our schedule – there is only ONE flight per day from Okadama in Sapporo to Rishiri (and vice versa) – so we arrived on the 12th.

As we were driven from the airport along the snowy road to where we were to stay – the Pension Green Wind – we saw frequent changes to the weather, and we looked at each other and nodded our heads, agreeing that Principal Motomura’s suggestion to try to get there early had been “a good one”.  We were greeted by Miyazaki’s “Totoro” on the way to the high school – “Drive Carefully on Rishiri !”

The lecture and presentation was held in the Rishiri High School Auditorium; the event started out with an official greeting by Principal Motomura in English. [Principal Motomura is a former English teacher – and his English was very good.]  His greetings were followed by a report entitled “Studying in Astoria (Oregon) and Spokane (Washington)” which was presented by two Rishiri High School Juniors, Jin Hiranuma and Mako Sato.  Jin and Mako came to America in the autumn of 2017 and were the 5th pair of students to come to Astoria/Spokane in the last 5 years.  They took turns giving their presentation, speaking about their valuable experiences in English.  Next the Chairman of Friends of MacDonald – me – presented the “real” Ranald MacDonald to the student body (as opposed to the Ronald McDonald, the mascot of hamburger fame).  I introduced MacDonald and his contributions by Power Point in English.  After that, based on my “50 plus years of life in America”, I gave “life advice” to the Rishiri High School students in Japanese.  My message was, “It’s good to hope and dream of the future, but the most important thing is to concentrate and work hard on what’s in front of you right now!”  That message has been my personal mantra/motto during my life in America.

Alice followed with her own message in English – “There is a big, wide world out there – – – get out of your comfort zone and follow the example of Ranald MacDonald, the Adventurer!”

The final lecture was presented by Dr. Hisashi Naito, Professor of Business Management at Hokkai Gakuen University, entitled “Look, Think and Act Globally” and explained the arrival of a new ”Glocal World” in fluent English [which he stressed that he had studied and mastered without going abroad.]

Local dignitaries who attended the presentation included Rev. Kyouji Furukawa, Mr. Ken’ichi Kurokawa, Mr. Eiji Nishiya of Ranald MacDonald Scholarship Fund Support Group and Mr. Kazuki Kosugi, Superintendent of the Rishiri School Dist. plus representatives from Hokkaido Department of Education, Wakkanai High School, Toyotomi High School, Edasachi High School, Rebun High School, Rishiri Junior High School, Senposhi Grade School, Kutsugata Grade School and some parents.  It was a well-attended event.

私と家内、アリスは昨年12月初旬に訪日、11日に成田空港から新千歳空港へ飛び、翌12日に北海道札幌市内の丘珠(おかだま)空港から利尻島の利尻空港へと飛び立った。それも「若し、利尻空港周辺の天候が着陸に不適当な場合は丘珠空港へ舞い戻る可能性有り」という事を予め御了承の上でご搭乗を・・・という条件付きの離陸であった。幸い到着時にはその直前まで吹雪いていた・・・らしい天候が好転、無事着出来た!

マクドナルド奨学基金支援の会の古川恭司会長や同会事務局次長の西谷榮治さん、それに今回お招き下さった利尻高校の元村治郎校長、近年利尻高校からの米国短期留学生を引率してアメリカへ来られた“顔馴染み”の中西、鈴木両教諭の温かい歓迎を受けた。

雪の北海道、特にラナルド・マクドナルドが1848年に上陸した利尻島の“真冬”は何時か是非体験してみたいと兼ねがね家内と話して居た矢先、「利尻高校での講演を・・・」という打診が舞い込んだのだった。よって私達の『行きます!やります!』という決断・回答に時間を要さなかった。それは、利尻高校が北海道教育委員会より「英語力向上事業研究指定校」に選抜され、更に過去5年間、アメリカ短期留学プログラムを実施してきた事もあり、同校に於いて「高等学校英語力向上事業」講演会・成果発表会が開催される事となった為だった。実際、そのイベント開催日は12月15日であったが、札幌から利尻に日に一便しか飛ばない飛行機が天候不順により飛べない又は着陸不可能となった場合等を鑑み、「2~3日間余裕を持ってご来島を・・・」と元村校長からご提言頂いていたので12日着島を計画、順調に着島出来たのだった。空港から宿泊先ペンション“群林風”への雪道を走る車の中から頻繁に変化する利尻の気象を観察しながら「元村校長のご提言は適当であった!」と頷いていた私達であった。

当日の講演会・成果発表会は、元英語教師であった元村校長が流ちょうな英語で先ず挨拶、続いてマクドナルド奨学資金支援の会により第5回米国短期留学生として米国アストリア市(オレゴン州)とスポケン市(ワシントン州)へ派遣された利尻高校2年生の平沼 迅君と佐藤真恋さんが交互に留学研修報告を英語で行った。次に私は世界中で知られているハンバーガーチェーンの道化者、ロナルド・マクドナルドと異なる「Real MacDonald」と題して、ラナルド・マクドナルドの紹介と彼の功績をパワーポイントを使って英語で紹介、続いて、在米50余年の体験に基ずく・・・利尻高校生達へのアドバイス的メッセージとして、「将来の夢も希望も良いが、最も大事なのは“現在”に熱中・目の前の事に集中する事!という自己の座右の銘を日本語で説き、家内アリスが「世界は広い、時には、マクドナルドの冒険心を見習い、自分のComfort Zoneから脱出を!」と英語でフォローした。講演の最後は、北海学園大学経営学部教授の内藤 永(ひさし)博士が「グローバルに見て、考えて、行動しよう」と題して、新たな“グローカル時代”到来の説明と生徒達への指針を「日本国内で学び、マスターした!」という見事な英語で解説、進言した。

当日、利尻高校講堂を埋めたのは同校全生徒以外にも、来賓としてご臨席なされたラナルド・マクドナルド奨学基金支援の会の古川恭司会長、黒川健一事務局長、西谷榮治事務局次長、利尻町教育委員会の小杉和樹教育長等であった。その他にも、北海道教育庁教育支援課高等学校指導班指導主事の方々や仙法志小学校の船木校長や沓形小学校の高橋教頭を含む、稚内高校、豊富高校、枝幸高校、礼文高校、利尻町立利尻中学校等諸校の先生方、及びご父兄の方たちであり、盛況であった。

“Japan’s Diplomatic Relations Began with Drifters”

September 29th, 2017

A symposium entitled “Japan’s Diplomatic Relations Began with Drifters was held at Yui no Mori Arakawa in Tokyo on July 17, 2017. Panelists included Mr. Frederik Schodt, author of ‘Native American in the Land of the Shogun’, and Tokyo- based author/scholar Ms. Sen Ishida; the moderator was author Natsuo Sekikawa, board member of the Japan Writers’ Association. Page 3 is a write-up of the symposium from the ‘Weekly Dokushojin’ publication; Mrs. Yumiko Kawamoto’s report on the symposium can be found below. The following is a flyer that was circulated for this event:

日本文藝家協会著作権管理部    各都市巡回文藝イベント  第10 回      東京

シンポジウム

漂流民から始まった対外関係

— 吉村昭を再読する―

鎖国下の日本に、外国語を習得しようと、また、翻訳を試みようとした人々がいました。辞書も無く手探りで学ぶ困   難さ、そして異文化への強い憧れと知識欲。吉村作品の「海の祭礼」「冬の鷹」に描かれた時代と人を、吉村昭記念文  学館があるゆいの森あらかわにて語り合います。[シンポジウムは日本語で行います]

パネリスト      フレデリック・ショット

(日本マンガおよび漂流民研究者・同時通訳者)

石田    千(作家)

進 行      関川夏央(作家)

日 時 2017年 7月17日(祝日・海の日) 14時~16時

会 場 ゆいの森あらかわ         1 階ゆいの森ホール     東京都荒川区荒川 2‐50‐1

入場料無   料  (要予約)

* 終了後、作家との茶話会を開催いたします。会費:500 円(要予約)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

History’s Accidental “Ambassadors” ~~ report by Yumiko Kawamoto

「漂流民から始まった対外関係」参加レポート    河元 由美子

日本文芸協会主催のシンポジウム「漂流民から始まった対外関係―吉村昭を再読する―」が 2017 年 7 月

17 日(月)14:00-16:00、ゆいの森あらかわ(東京都荒川区荒川 2-

50-1)1 階ホールで盛大に行われた。文芸協会の web 上の「お知らせ」には「鎖国下の日本に、外国語を習得しようと、また、翻訳を試みようとした人がいました。手探りで学ぶ困難さ、そして異文化への強い憧れと知識欲。吉村昭作品の『海の祭礼』『冬の鷹』に描かれた時代と人を、吉村記念文学館があるゆいの森あらかわで語り合います。(シンポジウムは日本語で行います)」という文面がある。一般参加者にはわかりやすい説明文である。

参加申し込みはあっという間に定員の 120 名を越し、主催者は定員外で参加不可の人たちへの対応に苦労したそうである。

吉村昭は海外でも翻訳書が多くよく読まれている人気作家で、その緻密な取材力には定評がある。現地取材と文献による裏付けがしっかりしており、しばしば研究者からも参考にされているが、彼自身の言葉によるとどうしても事実と事実がつながらない場合は想像力でその狭間を補うと言っている。そのフィクションの部分と事実が大変よくつながっているので感心するのだが、やはり研究者は自分で「事実」を確認しなければならない。

このシンポジウムの構成人員は 3 人で、モデレーターの関川夏央氏(作家)、石田千氏(作家)、そして我らがレデリック・ショット氏である。進行役の関川氏が『海の祭礼』に従ってマクドナルドの生い立ちから日本訪問、帰国後の動静、晩年までを説明、話の山になる部分を石田氏が朗読、彼女の落ち着いた明快な声が耳に快い。冒頭の部分(マクドナルドの利尻上陸の部分、アイヌの人々によって助けられ、保護される場面)、次いでマクドナルドの回想に入り、プリマス号から離れ、一人焼尻島に上陸する場面(トドの群れにピストルを発射)、長崎到着の場面(長崎奉行の取り調べ、踏み絵をさせられる、森山栄之助との出会い)、座敷牢での英語教授(マクドナルドの日本語単語の収集、通詞たちが蘭英辞書の発音を確かめる、マクドナルドの温和な性格が日本人に好感を与える、熱心な生徒たち、日本語単語帳に長崎方言が混じる)、森山の晩年(疲れ切って健康を害し、全盛期の勢いがなくなり、寂しい晩年だった)、などが石田氏の朗読場面だったように思う。その合間に関川氏とショット氏の軽妙なやり取りが交差する。ショット氏の流暢な日本語に聴衆はすっかり魅了され、ときどきその当意即妙な答えに会場が沸く。マクドナルドといえば必ず登場するショット氏である。語り慣れているとは言え、いつもながらその知識の深さと完ぺきな表現力には感心させられる。「もし踏み絵を強要されたら?」とか、「深くお辞儀をするのに抵抗があるか」とか、「クジラを食べたいか」とか時には本題を離れた質問に笑い声が起こった。脱線も関川氏の作戦か、和やかで楽しい 2 時間があっという間に過ぎた。質疑応答は会場を開ける時間が決まっているのでなかった。その代わりシンポのあと、30 分ほどパネリストと参加者の交流ティータイムが用意された。私はこの会に出なかったので様子はわからないが、文芸社の小俣さんが撮った写真を見るとリラックスしたよい雰囲気が伝わってくる。会場に来た 120 人の人はすっかりマクドナルドの存在が頭に焼き付けられたことだろう。関川氏もよく事前勉強をされ、会の流れを巧みに操縦したと思う。会場整理の文芸社社員もよく効率よく働いていた。大成功だった。

吉村昭は荒川区東日暮里の生まれで長く荒川区に住んでいた。吉村昭文学記念館が荒川区に新しく創設された

「ゆいの森あらかわ」の 2 階に「吉村昭コーナー」として収まった。

吉村の作品、彼の書斎にあった書籍類、膨大な執筆資料、原稿などが集められ、彼の書斎まで復元され、愛用のペンや机などがそのまま置かれている。吉村ファンにとってはまことにありがたい場所である。

シンポの行事が終わり、関係者は吉村氏行きつけの中華料理店に移動した。関川、ショット、文芸協会のスタッフ、講談社と新潮社のもと編集員、ともに吉村昭担当のベテラン編集者、私と友人の 12,3 人が丸いテーブルを囲み乾杯、そして次々運ばれてくる料理を食べながら歓談。前夜のホテルで冷房のスイッチが見つからず地獄の一夜を過ごしたショットさんに同情が集まる。そう、日本列島どこでもまるで焦熱地獄のような気温だったのだ。7 月 14 日に羽田に着いたショット氏はすぐ長崎に飛び、森山栄之助顕彰碑を見に行った。長崎のホテルには小濱先生、前田氏が表敬訪問、翌日は前田氏の案内で松の森神社参道にある森山顕彰碑とマク

ドナルド顕彰碑をカメラに収める。東京に引き返し取材やシンポの打合せで休みなしの強行軍、それもひどい暑さと闘いながら・・、涼しいサンフランシスコからの賓客にはまことに過酷な滞在だったことに深く同情する。

食卓での話題はなぜMacDonald なのか、McDonald との違いは何かで始まった。ショット氏の答えは

「どうでもいい」、これに満足しない面々はさらに追及、私に意見がもとめられたので、私も「どうでもい い」と。山崎をヤマザキ、ヤマサキふた通りの読み方がある。本人がヤマサキだといえばみなそれを尊重してヤマサキさんと呼ぶだろう。斎藤にも斎もあれば斉もある。要するに名前は本人がどう読むか、どう書くかで決まるのではないか。「座敷牢」は英語で何というかの質問に、座敷ではない、あれは「牢」なのだという答

え、ご名答。座敷とは畳の敷いてある部屋という意味でしかも 3 畳ぐらいの広さしかない。健康でアウトドア派の若者にはとてもつらい環境だ。なるほど座敷と牢のどちらがキーワードか、考えるチャンスをもらった。蛇足ながらマクドナルドが別れのあいさつで「ソイナラ」と言ったという発言があった。SOINARA では なく SIONARA の読み違え書き違えではないか。SIO なら   サイオと読める。今の日本人はヘボン式で読む 習慣があるが、 SI をサイとなぜ読まないのか、サイオナラならより「さようなら」(Good bye)に近づく

ではないか。

A Very Special Gathering

May 28th, 2017

We knew it was going to be a special meeting as soon as we got off the elevator on the second floor of the Heritage Museum in Astoria – we were not ‘late’, but we found the hallway filled with FOM members and guests chatting and patiently waiting to enter the gallery area of the old, Circa 1904 Astoria City Hall.  We were thrilled to see so many familiar faces – and a number of new faces as well. We – all of the Friends of MacDonald members – are pleased and gratified that our membership stays strong.  It is often difficult for organizations such as ours to remain healthy over the years; that said, we feel that our success stems from the allure Ranald MacDonald himself. As far as historical figures go, I think I speak for all of our members when I say that Ranald is definitely one of the more interesting characters to spring out of the Pacific Northwest, if not America itself.

We began our meeting by welcoming charter member and former FOM Chairman Prof. Stephan Kohl, former chairman Jim Mockford, and author of ‘Ranald MacDonald: Pacific Rim Adventurer’, JoAnn Roe, who, at age 93, drove BY HERSELF to Astoria from Bellingham, WA to be with us at this year’s luncheon. We were also honored to have Consul General and Mrs. Uchiyama of the Japan Consular Office in Portland, Chinook Council Vice Chair Sam Robinson and his better half Mildred (who entertained us with Chinook drums and songs of gratitude to the Creator who watches over us all), and local Chinook artist Charles Funk and his wife Mary. Members of Clan Donald were also in attendance, as well as visitors from Montana and Japan. Jim Mockford reminded us of our history as a Committee of the Clatsop County Historical Society, and – with occasional corroboration from Professor Kohl – told the story of the early days of FOM when Bruce Berney of Astoria and the late Mas Tomita of Epson Portland (among others) work against all odds to establish FOM. ~ Chairman Mas Yatabe