Republic is the “jumping-off point” for Friends of MacDonald members when visiting the Ranald MacDonald grave-site in Toroda, WA. Toroda, located along the Kettle River, is a scenic 38-minute drive north from Republic (30.0 mi. via WA-21 N and Kettle River Rd.) Republic is the home of the Ferry County Historical Society and museum (located at 15-2 N. Kean St. across from the Patterson City Park). The featured exhibits include mining and geology displays, a Native American exhibit (high-lighting Ranald MacDonald!) and an array of photos relating to ‘Turn of the Century’ Republic businesses. The museum is open Memorial Day to Labor Day, Friday-Monday from 10 am to 2 pm. Republic, the county seat of sparsely populated Ferry County in Northeast Washington, sprang into existence as a gold-mining camp in 1896 called ‘Eureka’ [or Eureka Gulch]. By 1898 it was crowded with 2,000 miners and prospectors, housed mostly in canvas tents. Several mines, including the Republic Mine, hit lucrative gold veins. The town site was laid out in 1898 and the name changed to ‘Republic’ because Postal authorities refused the name of Eureka (since a town with that name already existed in Clark County). The present name, proposed by citizens to honor the “Great Republic mining claim”, was accepted. In 1899 Ferry County split off from Stevens County and Republic became the county seat. The first mining boom lasted only until 1901, although mining continued to be the town’s main industry. Republic has endured many mining boom-and-bust cycles since, although the economy has diversified to include ranching, farming, timber, and tourism. The town’s business district was revamped in the 1980s with a “Western Victorian” theme. Today, this city of 1120 +/- residents is well-known for a different kind of “dig”: the Slagle-Stonerose Interpretive Center and Fossil Site, an entire hillside full of Eocene fossils, right next to downtown.
A High Forested Valley
For centuries, this piney, scenic valley was a junction point for Indian trails heading west over the Okanogan highlands, east over the Kettle Range, and south down the nearby San Poil River. Several trails converged almost exactly in the spot where the business district of today’s Republic now stands. A number of tribes frequented this high, forested valley, including the Colvilles. The site was originally part of the huge Colville Reservation, set aside for a number of tribes in 1872. Consequently, the area had little white presence for most of the 1800s. However, in 1891, the government purchased the entire north half of the Colville Reservation, including the future site of Republic. One of the reasons: the potential for gold strikes. On February 21, 1896, the north half was opened for mineral claims and prospectors, flush with gold fever, poured in.
Rumors of gold drew several other prospectors to the little gulch in February and March 1896, including Tom Ryan and Phil Creaser, who made claims on mines called the Republic claim and the Jim Blaine claim. Some of these claims would soon prove to have rich gold veins. News of the gold strikes flashed through the region, and by April 18, 1896, 64 men were living in the mining camp. The district was named Eureka, after the creek that ran through it. The camp was made almost entirely of tents. There was no railroad or boat transportation; everything was freighted in by horse or mule. It took another year for the first wooden building to go up, a log house, followed by a two-story wood-frame hotel in July 1897. The settlement really took off in 1898, driven by the well-publicized success of the Republic Mine. Within two years, the mine was worth $3.5 million, an imagination-stretching sum at the time. New strikes were reported almost daily. By late spring of 1898, the brand-new settlement of Republic was jammed with 2,000 people — gold prospectors and those trying to make money off of the gold prospectors. They arrived not just from Spokane and Seattle — many arrived from the gold camps of British Columbia. “Civilization” began to arrive along with the saloons and the grub shacks. In 1898, telephone wires reached Republic and the first church was opened. In 1899, a school district and fire department were established.
Early in 1899, the people of Republic decided that they no longer wanted to be part of vast Stevens County, and in January 1899, a bill was introduced in Olympia to create a new county became official on February 21, 1899. There was no dispute over which town would be named the County Seat – Republic was the only settlement of any size in Ferry County. By 1899 Republic had graduated from camp to small city. The Republic post office was doing more business than any town in Eastern Washington, except the big city of Spokane. Plenty of that outgoing mail carried the message: “There’s money to be made in Republic.” It became one of the richest mining centers in the country, and by far the most significant in Washington State history.
On June 3, 1899, a fire broke out in the pre-dawn hours. By the time the town’s fledgling fire department put the fire out, half of Republic’s business district was destroyed. Fire was to become a sad and recurring theme in the town’s history. In 1900, Republic endured a smallpox scare. People were afraid to go out in the streets; business in the stores fell off dramatically. It turned out to be only a “scare”; most cases proved to be mild and there were only a few fatalities.
Republic suffered through its first “bust” in 1901 when a number of mines closed. The town’s railroad connection — long-awaited and desperately needed — still had not arrived by 1901 – but the business climate did improve when railroad whistles were finally heard in 1902. Yet the mining boom was mostly over and wouldn’t revive for another 30 years. The town began to diversify into timber and farming — although farming was a tough proposition at Republic’s relatively high altitude, 2,569 feet, and short growing season.
Progress reached Republic slowly. The 1920s were especially rough, as they were on most Western mining towns. By 1925 the population was estimated at only about 700. The Spokesman-Review in Spokane described Republic’s past and prospects in 1929:
“When its mines boomed, Republic boomed; when the mining interests waned, the town slumped and badly – in spite of the fact that it is a County Seat, that it has dairying, stock raising and lumbering among its industries … Republic’s immediate future depends on the success of a projected *custom concentrator which will handle all of the ores of the camp”. *Believed to refer to a plant where ore is separated into values (concentrates) and rejects (fails).
During Prohibition, some citizens in the hills surrounding Republic resorted to distilling white lightning to make ends meet. One area near town came to be known as Moonshine Gulch. Republic also became a natural center for liquor smuggling from Canada. “It’s only 30 miles to the border, all of it mountains, so local people were transporting liquor by horse from Canada,” said local historian Dick Slagle. Republic had two federal enforcement officers who “made arrests every once in a while, but they probably overlooked a lot of stuff, too” (Slagle).
Another serious fire devastated the city once again, this time burning down the Ferry County Courthouse in 1934. The Works Progress Administration built a new courthouse in Art Deco style in 1936. The building remains one of the city’s landmarks.
The Great Depression came with a silver lining — actually a gold lining — for Republic. The price of gold soared to $35 an ounce in 1933 and most of the mines in the old Eureka Gulch re-opened, including the Republic Mine and one of the best-known of the recent producers, the Knob Hill, just a few miles out of town. Republic has gone through a number of mine-closing/reopening cycles. The Knob Hill mine continued to produce gold and silver and in 1956 had a payroll of 75. The opening of the state highway over Sherman Pass to Kettle Falls in 1953, meant that Republic was no longer quite so far off the beaten track.
Rough Times and Rebounds
The 1960s and 1970s were rough in Republic, as it became increasingly difficult to rely on a mining and timber economy. The population dipped to 862 in 1970. In 1973, the town nearly lost its hospital, but a spirited fund drive resulted in construction of a new modern facility. The population rebounded to 1,018 in 1980.
Two catastrophes arrived one after the other in the bleak early winter of 1983. First, the Knob Hill mine announced it would soon close and take 100 jobs with it. A week later, on December 4, 1983, a fire blazed through the town’s main street one more time. This one leveled the historic Republic Hotel, a café, a liquor store, and the offices of the weekly newspaper, the Republic News-Miner. But once again disaster became the spark for re-building. This time the merchants of Republic agreed to reinvent the business district with an old-time theme, playing off its gold boom origins. They spruced up the business district to the tune of $1 million. Thie boosted the town’s spirits as well as its tourist trade. In 1984, Hecla Mining Co., which owned the Knob Hill Mine, announced that it had found fresh new deposits. The mine wouldn’t have to close after all. In 1987, a new shaft, the Golden Promise, hit another gold ore body. In 1989, the town also built a new history museum, the Republic Historical Center, which incorporates one of the mining camp’s oldest log cabins. Yet the bust came again in the mid-1990s when Hecla closed its Knob Hill mine for good when the ore body ran out. Sawmill jobs also disappeared.
The Fossil Find
By this time, a different kind of dig had put Republic on the national map. Paleontologists discovered that Boot Hill, right in town, was chock full of fossils from the Eocene Epoch, embedded in shale. The site of Republic was part of vast, ancient lake bed, filled with plants, insects and fish. These fossils were plentiful and remarkably easy to find.
At first it was of interest mostly to scientists. “Republic is a very important site — age-wise and because the preservation is so good — for piecing together the changes that were going on in the West in ancient times,” said a paleo-botany curator from the Smithsonian Institute (Godes). Then in 1986, the city organized some public digs, in which hundreds of schoolchildren fanned out over the hill. It went so well that the city made plans to build a museum and interpretive center, which opened in 1987. Today, the Stonerose Interpretive Center and Fossil Site issues daily digging permits to thousands of visitors every year. Nearly everyone comes away with a fossil souvenir. [Stonerose reserves the right to retain any fossils with scientific significance]. Stonerose is now the center of Republic’s tourist economy. The other major tourist attractions surround the city in all directions — dozens of lakes, creeks, trails, and campgrounds in this vast, secluded region of the state.
Gold mining is a thing of the past in Republic. The Knob Hill mine never reopened. However, mining remains a significant part of the economy, since gold ore is still trucked in from another mine in the region and milled in Republic. Meanwhile, for those who take the time to look, Republic’s mining past is evident everywhere, in the abandoned shafts and tailings of what was once called Eureka Gulch. Despite a few modern structures, the town of Republic retains a flavor of the Old West along its main street, with an ancient “opry house,” now a motion picture theater, balconied and false-fronted buildings, and old-time bars untouched by the fire of 1938, which razed a section of the street.
* * * *
In part, by Jim Kershner, Posted 6/14/2009; made possible by The State of Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation
The Ferry County Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which places its primary emphasis on preserving and exhibiting artifacts related to the rich history of Ferry County.
Slagle-Stonerose Fossil Site, Republic, Washington – Home of the Ferry Country Historical Society and Heritage Museum
Fifty million years ago, during the early Eocene Epoch, the present day “Okanagan Highlands” – an elevated, hilly plateau that covers parts of British Columbia, Canada and the North-Central portion of the State of Washington – lay beneath the waters of a very large ancient lake. As the lake bed slowly filled with volcanic ash and sediment, leaves, flowers, fish and insects were trapped in between layers of the resulting mud. Today that unknown ancient lake is gone, along with the unusual mix of topography and climate that produced and was home to plants and animals that have not been found together in any other known location.
Since the Stonerose dig site’s discovery by Wes Wehr and Kirk Johnson in 1977, more than 200 different species of plants and animals have been found there in fossilized form. Located on an unassuming road-cut along Knob Hill Road just north of Republic, Washington’s “city center”, the “Boot Hill Fossil Site” provides paleontologists and amateur fossil hunters alike the unprecedented opportunity to discover world-class example of Eocene plant life such as leaves belonging to the rose, birch, maple, and redwood families. The on-site facilities consist of portable toilets and a shaded picnic table. You’ll be spending lots of time in the sun, so remember to bring a sun hat, suntan lotion, and water. If you have a pair of garden knee pads, you may want to bring them along.
As with fishing and gambling, it is possible you could go home empty-handed, but it’s more likely than not that you will find several beautiful, delicate fossil specimens that you will be proud to display in your home. Finding a fossil at the Stonerose Interpretive Center just takes a bit of patience and maybe a few blisters, yet for years this rocky hillside has yielded a tremendous cache of fossilized remains, making the odds of finding one better than even. There’s a euphoric moment when you find your first fossil – suddenly a nondescript rock becomes a tangible link to the age of the dinosaurs. That spine-tingling moment doesn’t even have to come from a T-Rex or raptor claw – it can overtake you with the first signs of a 52-million-year old leaf skeleton. For some, it may be the beginning of an addicting hunt that will last a lifetime. The best part is that vacationers, rock hounds, and amateur fossil hunters can search this amazing site for their own one-of-a-kind fossils. Warning: be careful, finding fossils is addictive.
Established in 1989, the Stonerose Interpretive Center and Fossil Site is located on N. Clark Ave. on Republic, Washington’s main thoroughfare. The Boot Hill Fossil Site is a .2 miles walk or drive from the Interpretive Center. Stonerose Dig site is open daily from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. (latest time to start digging is 3 p.m.) through Sept. 4th. Off-season hours vary. Adults $10/kids $5 – Public digging is by permit only. Visitors may retain up to three fossil pieces per person per day, though significant finds must be left at the site. The Boot Hill Fossil Site is owned by the Friends of Stonerose Fossils, a non-profit organization founded by Wes Wehr, Bert Chadick, Madeline Perry, Gary Anderson, Richard Slagle, Klifton Frazier.
In January this year, when going through e-mails on my computer (without any specific purpose other than try to clean up some old messages), I came across an email from a Founding Member of FOMdated nearly 14 years ago (Saturday, March 20, 2010 to be exact). The subject was “Ranald Stamp”. I became very curious and decided to read it again because I had been very much aware that this year – 2024 – Ranald MacDonald would be 200 years old … The following is the message:
“Hi, Many years ago I asked an FOM officer in Japan if we might get the Japanese Post Office to issue a stamp in 1994 or 1998* for one of Ranald MacDonald’s big anniversaries. [* – 1994 would have been the
100th Memorial of Ranald’s death; 1998 would have been the 150th Anniversary of Ranald’s landing on Rishiri Island – both significant dates and events.] I was told then it was impossible because government rules proscribed depicting stamps of foreigners. That may have been true then
but I was just looking at some (current) Japanese stamps. Two caught my eye. One was a double frame, 80 yen each, showing a bird’s eye view of Dejima in the center background. On the left is a Dutch sailing ship identified as Liefde, perhaps. On the right is a stylized illustration of a Dutch trader. The words “Japan- Netherland” are in the kanji caption. The other stamp of interest is an 80 yen stamp with a handsomely drawn face of Philipp Franz von Siebold, 1796-1866. [I received the letter on April 2, 1996. I had taped these two stamps into my copy of Fred Schodt’s book, Native American in the Land of the Shogun.] I may not be around in the year 2024, but if I am, I sure would like to see Ranald’s face on a stamp honoring him on his bicentennial. Maybe even a joint issue with Japan, U.S.A. and Canada! Is this an idea worth working on?”
Indeed, it was an excellent idea!
We immediately got into action after re-reading that email by contacting the Consular Office here in Portland. Council Naoto Shigehisa and I discussed the possibility of this ‘project’; he kindly provided us with the contact information of Nippon Yusei Kosha in Tokyo (formerly ‘Postal Services Agency of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications’) which is now used for ordering new memorial stamps. We contacted the office directly by phone; the lady of the office in Tokyo and I exchanged a few telephone calls and a few e-mails regarding this. In the meantime, we were hard at work designing the “Ranald MacDonald memorial stamp” per SPECIFIC design requirements by Nippon Yusei Kosha. The last hurdle was the payment AND we already had a unanimous donor for the project. We contacted Mr. Nishiya of FOMJ in Rishiri for some help with logistics and the following, as they say, is HISTORY !
何年も前の事ですが、FOM日本支部の役員に（注：FOM創設時には、FOM日本支部が存在した。）「日本の郵便局／郵政省により、１９９４年（マクドナルド没後１００年）か１９９８年（マクドナルドの利尻島上陸１５０周年）のFOMの大きなイベントを祝う際に、マクドナルドの記念切手を発行してもらう事が出来ないだろうか？」と、問い合わせたところ、返って来た回答は「それは不可能！何故ならば日本の切手に外国人を載せる事は禁じられているから・・・。」という事だった。多分、その頃は、そうだったかもしれないが、ある日、私は日本から送られて来た一通の封筒を眺めていた。それに貼られた二枚の切手が目に入った。一枚は８０円で二重枠の中央は出島の鳥瞰図、左側にオランダの帆船、多分、リーフデ号、右側はオランダの貿易商のイラスト。漢字で日本‐阿蘭陀と書かれていた。もう一枚の興味深い切手は、８０円切手でフィリップ・フランツ・ボン・シーボルト、１７９６－１８６６の顔がハンサムに描かれていた。［私が（それらの切手が貼られた）封筒を受け取ったのは１９９６年4月２日だった。又、その2枚の記念切手を、私はFred の本 ( Native American in the Land of the Shogun) にテープで貼り付け、保管する事にした。］
“Junk” is a term that Americans still use to refer to “traditional” Asian boats. The origin of this term is
probably a transliteration* that a missionary from the Order of Friars Minor in Italy (mid 14th century), used in his writing about his voyage to China via the Indian Ocean during the Yuan dynasty; a Muslim traveler referred to ships seen in the Indian Ocean and along the Chinese coasts as “Gonku” or “Chunko.” It is believed that the word ‘Junk’ came from the Malay-Javanese word jung or ajung (hard ‘g’) which could have been derived from the Chinese word jung meaning “floating house”.
A *transliteration, put in simple terms, doesn’t tell you the meaning of a word, but it gives you an idea of how the word is pronounced in a foreign language. And now you know.
Long-time FOM members know Frederik L. Schodt as an author, translator, and conference interpreter
based in the San Francisco Bay area. Fred is also a long-time member of Friends of MacDonald – and we consider him one of our most precious “treasures”. While the following review by Don MacLaren is wonderful, I would have added the following info: first, that Fred Schodt was instrumental in introducing Tezuka’s most famous creation, “鉄腕 アトム／Tetsuwan Atomu” – Atom Boy – to the world, and second, Com. Perry’s negotiations with the Shogunate would (perhaps) not have been as smooth or successful if MacDonald’s student, Einosuke Moriyama, had not been so well-prepared (by MacDonald).
Fred has written widely on Japanese history, popular culture, and technology. His writings on manga, and his translations of them, helped trigger the current popularity of Japanese ‘comics’ in the English-speaking world, and in 2000 resulted in his being awarded the Special Category of the Asahi Shimbun’s prestigious Osamu Tezuka Culture Award. In the same year, his translation of Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama’s 1931 pioneering graphic novel, “The Four Immigrants Manga”, was selected as a finalist in Pen West USA translation award. In 2009, Fred was awarded by the Emperor of Japan, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his work in helping to promote Japan’s popular culture overseas. Also, in the same year he was awarded the “Special” category of the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s 3rd International Manga Award. Fred recently (last week!) received another great review of our favorite book…
“Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan is a very important book about a fascinating man in Japanese history. I have read a lot about Japanese history, but I never came across Ranald MacDonald until I read this wonderful book by Frederik L. Schodt. I am surprised MacDonald’s story is not better known. I’m very happy, though, that someone with Schodt’s talents at research and storytelling wrote about it. MacDonald was a free spirit and a man of intense determination and courage. He went to Japan during the Edo Period, a time when foreigners were not allowed into Japan, except for a small number of Dutch who resided in a small island off Nagasaki. He could have been executed by the Japanese government. Japanese were not allowed to leave Japan at that time either. If they ventured to do so, they were at risk of being executed as well. Japan opened up to foreign trade after over 200 years of seclusion after Commodore Matthew Perry’s “Black Ships” arrived in Tokyo Bay in 1854. MacDonald arrived in Japan in 1848 and left the next year on a U.S. Navy ship that had been sent to Japan to rescue shipwrecked sailors. 15 other American sailors who had been shipwrecked and – like MacDonald – imprisoned in Japan, accompanied him. Most foreigners who reside in Japan today have taught English there, but MacDonald was the first foreigner in Japan to do so (correction… the Dutch interpreters ‘taught’ English – A.Y.) Sadly, the great impact MacDonald had on Japan and its relations with the outside world was largely forgotten. This book should change that and give him his rightful place in history.” ~Don MacLaren*
*Don MacLaren’s articles have appeared in TIME, Newsweek (International), BusinessWeek, The Japan Times, Japan Today and other publications. Between 2008 and 2014 he made numerous trips to Japan, totaling over six months. Much of this time was spent writing his observations on Japan, as well as doing freelance translating and tutoring. MacLaren has divided his time between New York City, China and Japan since July 2014. He currently works as a teacher, writer and translator.
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.
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.
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:
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。
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.
「もしもし、富田です。お会いしたいのですが・・・」、どこか遠慮がちな電話を頂くと私はすぐ日時の約束をとりつけ、所沢の駅に出かけて行った。当時先生は所沢にお住まいで、私たちは駅近くの喫茶店で時間の許す限り話し込んだ。奥さまの介護で長時間家をあけられなかった先生の家庭の事情があったので、1時間半の所沢行きは私にとって負担ではなかったし、少しでも先生とお話出来る機会をもちたかったのである。話題は研究のこと、学会情報など学術的なことのほか、旅の話も多かった。話は何時もマクドナルドのことに及び、懸案になっていたマクドナルドの本発行の可能性について色々話し合うのだった。