Hamada Hikozō

Hamada Hikozō

Bust in Harima

Hamada Hikozō ( Japanese 浜 田 彦 蔵 , better known in America as Joseph Heco; born September 20, 1837 in the province of Harima ; died December 12, 1897 ) was a Japanese interpreter and entrepreneur during the Meiji period and the first American citizen born Japanese. After his return from America he was also called "Ame-Hiko".

life and work

Hamada Hikozō was born the son of a ship's captain in Harima Province. Hamada was sailing from Harima to Edo in 1850 when he was shipwrecked. He and 16 other survivors were rescued from the American "Oakland", which reached San Francisco with them in February 1851 . As the American government was in the process of preparing an expedition to Japan under the command of Matthew Perry , the 17 castaways were taken away. However, when they reached Hong Kong, Hamada was asked to return to the United States. In October 1854 he was baptized a Catholic and was given the name Joseph Heco. In 1858 he became an American citizen.

Hamada, however, missed his homeland and made his way to Japan. On the way he met Townsend Harris in Shanghai in 1858 , the first official US representative in Japan, who hired him as an interpreter for the American consulate in Kanagawa. In 1864 Hamada began, together with Kishida Ginkō, (岸 田 吟 子; 1833–1905) the first modern newspaper in Japan, the "Übersee-Nachrichten" (海外 新聞, Kaigai shimbun) to publish. - During the early Meiji years , he worked for the Treasury for a while, but returned to private ventures.

Hamada left two autobiographical works, in 1863 the "Hyōyūki" (漂流 記) - "Report of a shipwrecked" - in Japanese and in 1895 "The Narrative of a Japanese" in English.

Remarks

1. ↑ Harima-chō (播 磨 町), Hamadas place of birth on the Inland Sea ( 34 ° 43 ′ 0 ″  N , 134 ° 52 ′ 0 ″  E ).
2. ↑ Kanagawa-chō (金川 町), today a district of Yokohama

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Hamada Hikozō . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X
• Hunter, Janet: Heco, Joseph (Hamada Hikozō) . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .

Web links

Commons : Hamada Hikozō  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Hamada is the family name, Hikozō the first name.