Daikokuya Kōdayū
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(1751 – 28 May 1828) was a Japanese castaway who spent nine years in Russia. His ship landed at Amchitka, in the Aleutian Islands. The crew managed to travel to the Russian mainland and Catherine the Great allowed them to go back to Japan. This was made possible through the efforts of Kirill Laxman,
Alexander Bezborodko Prince Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko (russian: Князь Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Безборо́дко; 6 April 1799) was the Grand Chancellor of Russian Empire and chief architect of Catherine the Great's foreign policy aft ...
, and
Alexander Vorontsov Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Воронцо́в) (4 February 17412 December 1805) was the Chancellor of the Russian Empire during the early years of Alexander I's reign. He began his car ...
. Two of the crew made it back to Japan alive, though one died while they were detained in
Yezo (also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...
( Hokkaidō). Of the original crew, two converted to Christianity and stayed in Irkutsk, and 11 others died.


Early life

Daikokuya Kōdayū was born in Wakamatsu,
Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History The name of Ise appears ...
(now Suzuka, Mie, Japan). He was adopted by a merchant, Daikokuya of Shiroko, Ise (also now part of Suzuka, Mie).


Adrift

As the captain of the ship ''Shinsho-maru'' (神昌丸), Kōdayū set sail for Yedo in 1782. The ship was caught in a storm around Enshū (western
Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...
) and was blown off course. After drifting for seven months, one man died. Just after the man died, they found and landed on the island Amchitka where Russians and
Aleut people The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between th ...
lived. The crew witnessed the Aleuts' uprising in 1784. After the Russian ship which came to pick them up sank just in front of Kodayu's people and Russians, the 25 Russians and 9 Kōdayū's people escaped from the island by building a new ship of driftwood with sails made of otter skins. They sailed for one and a half months. Russian officials in
Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...
at first could not believe they had sailed from Amchitka to Kamchatka in a "hand-made boat". At Kamchatka, Kōdayū met
Barthélemy de Lesseps Jean-Baptiste Barthélemy de Lesseps (27 January 1766 in Sète – 6 April/26 April 1834 in Lisbon) was a French diplomat and writer, member of the scientific expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse (1 August 1785 – January ...
, a French diplomat. Lesseps wrote about the Japanese castaways and the leader Kōdayū in his book, ''Journal historique du voyage de M. de Lesseps'' published in 1790. According to Lesseps, "The crew had special feeling of attachment and respect with Kōdayū. He also showed his attachment as much as they did to him, and he always paid attention if they had any frustrating matters as possible as he could." Kōdayū did not hide what he thought and his Russian had a strong accent and he spoke very fast so sometimes Lesseps could not understand. He wore Japanese clothes, which did not cover his throat, even when it was freezing cold, despite Russian people's recommendation that he should have covered his throat. A captain in Kamchatka, possibly by the name Khotkevich, led Kōdayū's people to
Okhotsk Okhotsk ( rus, Охотск, p=ɐˈxotsk) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Okhotsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk. Population: ...
. Kodayu's people temporarily stayed in
Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one ...
. In Irkutsk, Captain Khotkevich introduced Kōdayū's people to Kirill Laxman. Kōdayū's people had assistance by others, including Kirill Laxman, in Irkutsk. Kōdayū then left for
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in order to accompany Kirill to ask to be returned home in 1791. By the instrumental help of Kiril, Kodayu was granted an audience with Catherine the Great in
Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...
and Kodayu's people were permitted to return home in the same year.Kisaki, Ryōhei, ''Kodaiyu to Lakusuman: Bakumatsu Nichi-Ro Kosho no Isshokumen (Kodaiyu and Laxman: An Aspect of Japanese-Russian Relations in the Late Edo Period),'' Tokyo, Tosui Shobo, 1992; Yasushi Inoué, ''Rêves de Russie,'' traduit du japonais par Brigitte Koyama-Richard, Paris, Phébus, 2005.


References


Further reading

Keene, Donald. The Japanese Discovery of Europe, 1720 - 1830. Stanford University Press, 1952.


See also

* Kirill Laxman * Amchitka * Catherine the Great *
Alexander Bezborodko Prince Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko (russian: Князь Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Безборо́дко; 6 April 1799) was the Grand Chancellor of Russian Empire and chief architect of Catherine the Great's foreign policy aft ...
*
Alexander Vorontsov Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Воронцо́в) (4 February 17412 December 1805) was the Chancellor of the Russian Empire during the early years of Alexander I's reign. He began his car ...
*
Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...
* Paul I of Russia *
Alexander Radishchev Alexander Nikolayevich Radishchev (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Ради́щев; – ) was a Russian author and social critic who was arrested and exiled under Catherine the Great. He brought the tradition of radicali ...
*
Grigory Shelikhov Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov (Григо́рий Ива́нович Ше́лихов in Russian) (1747, Rylsk, Belgorod Governorate – July 20, 1795 (July 31, 1795 New Style)) was a Russian seafarer, merchant, and fur trader who perpetrated t ...
*
Barthélemy de Lesseps Jean-Baptiste Barthélemy de Lesseps (27 January 1766 in Sète – 6 April/26 April 1834 in Lisbon) was a French diplomat and writer, member of the scientific expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse (1 August 1785 – January ...
(uncle of
Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
) in Kamchatska *
Dembei Dembei ( ja, 伝兵衛 ''Dembei'', russian: Дэмбэй) was a Japanese castaway who, through Vladimir Atlasov, provided Russia with some of its first knowledge of Japan. He was a merchant clerk accompanying a fleet of "thirty transports laden ...
* History of Alaska#Russian Alaska: Aleutian islands and about Shelikhov. {{DEFAULTSORT:Daikokuya, Kodayu Castaways 1751 births 1828 deaths People from Mie Prefecture Japanese sailors Japanese expatriates in Russia