Native American in the land of the shogun : Ranald MacDonald and the opening of Japan

How Japan, after 250 years of self--imposed isolation, began the process of modernization is in part the story of Ranald MacDonald. In 1848 this half-Scot, half-Chinook adventurer from the Pacific Northwest landed on an island off Hokkaido. Although promptly arrested and imprisoned for seven months in Nagasaki, the intelligent, well-educated MacDonald fascinated the Japanese and became one of their first teachers of English and Western ways. Based on primary research in Japan and North America, this book chronicles the events leading to MacDonald’s journey and his later struggle to obtain recognition at home. "Schodt's account of MacDonald's life and his eventual journey to Japan is depicted with the accuracy of a trained academic and the excitement of a skillful novelist." -- Kyoto Journal Fort Colvile And The Custer Interview -- The Mouth Of The Columbia River -- A Fateful Non-meeting At Fort Vancouver -- Education At Red River -- A Trial In Business At St. Thomas -- Sag Harbor's Japan Connection -- A Staging Ground In The Hawaiian Islands -- Rishiri Island, The Adventure Begins -- On Japan's Northern Frontier -- Under Control Of The Matsumae Domain -- Arrival In Nagasaki -- Nagasaki Days, Teaching English And Learning Japanese -- Leaving Nagasaki -- Creation Of The Narrative -- The Macdonald Legacy. Frederik L. Schodt. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 402-410) And Index. "In 1848, against all odds, a half-Chinook, half-Scot man named Ranald MacDonald entered feudal Japan - when it was still closed to the outside world. Here is the true story of how this remarkable twenty-four year old journeyed on his own to a forbidden land and helped open it to the modern world." A wide-ranging, readable account of an eccentric and exceptional man who crossed cultures and changed history.