Evidence shows Asian ships touched the West Coast, either by plan or fate, before Columbus reached America. In October 1832, the Hojun-maru left Nagoya, Japan loaded with porcelain, rice and a full crew. The junk sailed toward the capital Edo (Tokyo) carrying the shogun’s tribute. Not far into its routine journey, a typhoon battered the ship, breaking its rudder, snapping its mainmast and crashing its sail into the sea. The disabled ship left its crew at the mercy of Pacific currents.
Drifting nearly 5,000 miles in about 16 months, the crew stayed alive eating the cargo of rice, catching fish and collecting rainwater. Sometime in January 1834, what remained of the 50-foot-long wreck capsized south of Cape Flattery, likely at Cape Alava, in the northwest corner of Washington. Most of the crew had died, perhaps of scurvy because they ate no vegetables.
The survivors — Iwakichi, 28; Kyukichi, 15; and Otokichi, 14 — struggled to shore and faced the first humans they’d seen in months. The Makah seal hunters immediately claimed the castaways as slaves, took them to an encampment and held them for several months.
About March, Fort Vancouver Hudson’s Bay Company’s chief factor, John McLoughlin, learned of the shipwreck and sent a party overland to investigate and rescue the hostages. That attempt failed. Next, he sent the ship Lama, captained by William H. McNeill, to do his “utmost to recover the unfortunate people.” McNeill brought the rescued Japanese to Fort Vancouver in July, where they stayed four months.
