First Japanese on the North American Continent

In October 1832, the Japanese cargo ship Hojun Maru set sail from near Nagoya bound for Edo, present day Tokyo. Disabled in a storm off Enshu Nada, the Hojun Maru drifted for fourteen months before running aground on the coast near Cape Flattery, at the northwest tip of what is now Washington State. The three surviving crew members, Iwakichi, Otokichi, and Kyukichi lived briefly among the coastal tribes before they were brought to Fort Vancouver by the Hudson’s Bay Company. They were the first Japanese to arrive on the continent of North America.

Portland, Oregon · United States