Morrison incident
The Morrison incident ( Japanese モ リ ソ ン 号 事件 Morison-gō jiken ) is the expulsion of the US merchant ship Morrison from the port of Kagoshima in Satsuma in 1837 by cannon fire. This happened as part of the edict for the expulsion of foreign ships of 1825 as part of the Japanese isolation policy ( sakoku ).
In addition to commercial targets, the ship had tried to bring back seven shipwrecked Japanese who had been taken in Macau . Missionaries were also on board.
The ship's aim of bringing back the castaways became known in Japan the following year and this caused criticism of the edict.
Among the castaways was Yamamoto Otokichi (山 本 音 吉), who was known for his role in bridging the cultural divide between Japan and the rest of the world.
Web links
- pbs.org time line (English)