Clarence Griffin (Scouting) gravesite Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery

Clarence Griffin (1873–1951) was the founder of the first

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

troop in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, in 1911.

Background

Griffin was born in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in 1873 and was the only son of British parents. Soon after Clarence was born, John Thomas Griffin, Clarence's father, moved to Japan to begin business. Clarence remained in Northern Ireland with his mother, Sara Louise, until 1875 when the family reunited in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. The

Great Kantō earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

of September 1, 1923 devastated Yokohama. Clarence Griffin was found barely breathing by surprised Scouts as they helped with rescue work in the aftermath of the destruction. Relocating to

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

he recovered from his injuries however, being financially ruined by the quake, Griffin soon left Japan. After a short lecture tour in the United States Griffin taught for many years at a college in Taiwan and then spent the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

years in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

before returning to Yokohama in 1950. After Griffin's death in 1951, the

Boy Scouts of Japan , headquarters = Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo , country = Japan , f-date = 1922 , members = 109,528 (2017) , website = http://www.scout.or.jp , affiliation = World Organization of the Scout Movement , pattern_head1 = baseball cap , color_hea ...

(now the Scout Association of Japan) placed a marker on his

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

at the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery (''Yokohama Gaikokujin Bochi'') honoring him as Japan's first Scoutmaster."クラーレンスグリフィンのお墓" (Clarence Griffin's Gravesite - article in Japanese, ''Scouting'', December 2007, Scout Association of Japan, p. 11

References

Scouting pioneers 1873 births 1951 deaths Scouting in Japan Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{Scout-bio-stub