One day I went to Yokohama for sightseeing.

There was nothing of the town of Yokohama then, a few temporary dwellings had been erected here and there as posts for the foreign trade, and in these the pioneer merchants were living and showing their wares.

To my disappointment, when I tried to speak with them, no one seemed to understand me at all, nor was I able to understand anything spoken by anyone of the foreigners I met.

Neither could I read anything of the signboards over the shops, nor the labels on the bottles which they had for sale.

There was not a single recognisable word in any of the inscriptions or in any speech.

It might have been English or French for what I knew.

On the very next day after returning from Yokohama, I took up a new aim in my life and determined to begin the study of English.

But needless to say, there was no teacher of English then in Yedo.

I did not know how to begin.

I found after enquiring around there was an interpreter named Moriyama Takachiro who had been called from Nagasaki to help in the negotiation proceedings of the new treaty.

I heard that this man knew some English, though his speciality was Dutch.

I went at once to Moriyama's house and implored him to teach me English.

At that time a young lad had reached Yedo from Nagasaki.

We heard that he knew some English and we tried to get some pronunciation from him.

Then occasionally there were shipwrecked Japanese fishermen who were brought back by foreign ships.

These poor men had formerly, by government degree, not been permitted to re-enter this land.

But after the new policy of open ports came into effect, they were allowed to return home.

Whenever we heard of any such men, we called on them at their lodgings and asked them to give us any English they knew.

In truth, Dutch and English were both strange languages written sideways of the same origin.

Our knowledge of Dutch could be applied directly to English.

Our one-time fear was a groundless illusion.

The year after I was settled in Yedo, the 6th year of Ansai, the government of the Shogun made a great decision to send a ship of war to the United States, an enterprise never before attempted since the foundation of the Empire.

On this ship I was to have the good fortune of visiting America.

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Though it had been called a warship, the vessel was a very small sailing craft, equipped with an auxiliary steam engine of 100 horsepower, which was used for manoeuvring in and out of harbours.

In the open sea, she must depend entirely on sail.

The government had purchased her from the Dutch for 25,000 riyu a few years before and had named her the Kanrin Maru.

This voyage of Kanrin Maru was an epoch-making adventure of our nation.

Every member of the crew was determined to take the ship across unassisted by a foreigner.

It seems to me now that the reason for granting my wish to go on the boat so easily must have been that such an unusual enterprise as the voyage was to be, there were not many volunteers.

No sooner did we get out into the open sea that we ran into storms and continued to have rough weather all the way across.

In the rocking ship, a quiet, dignified meal was impossible, so I used to pile my rice in my purloined bowl and pour soup and everything over it, take it to the side of the cabin and eat standing up.

For a whole month we saw nothing but the waves and the clouds.

Once we sighted a sailboat said to be an American vessel carrying Chinese workmen over to America, that was the only thing we saw during the voyage.

The four or five American sailors on our ship were found to be using more water than they One of the officers told Captain Brook about it and the latter replied instantly.

You may shoot any seaman found wasting water.

Any such person is guilty of general treason to the ship.

No admonition or inquiry is necessary.

You may feel free to shoot him at once.

Our water supply was thus made to hold out and we, with the entire crew of 96 men, were able to reach land at San Francisco after 37 days.

I am willing to admit my pride in this accomplishment for Japan.

The facts are these.

It was not until the sixth year of Kei that a steam ship was seen for the first time.

It was only in the second year of Ansai that we began to study navigation from the Dutch in Nagasaki.

By 1860 the science was sufficiently understood to enable us to sail a ship across the Pacific.

This means that about seven years after the first sight of a steam ship, after only about five years of practice, the Japanese people made a trans-Pacific crossing without help from foreign experts.

I think we can, without undue pride, boast before the world of this courage and skill.

Our welcome on shore was certainly worthy of a friendly people.

They did everything for us and they could not have done more.

The feeling on their part must have been like that of a teacher receiving his old pupil several years after graduation, for it was their Commodore Perry who had effected the opening of our country eight years before, and now here we were on our first visit to America.

As soon as we came on shore, we found we were to be driven off in carriages to a hotel.

While we were resting in the hotel, city officials and various dignitaries came to offer entertainment.

We were given quarters in the official residence of the Navy Station on Mare Island.

Our hosts knew that we Japanese were accustomed to different diets, so they arranged that our food, instead of being served, should be prepared by our own cook in the quarters allotted to us.

But the officials, being very kind and desiring to satisfy their Japanese love for seafood, sent fish every day.

Also, on learning the Japanese custom of bathing frequently, they had baths prepared daily.

This generous treatment in every way brought to mind an old expression of ours.

As if our host had put us on the palm of his hand to see that we lacked nothing.

On our part, there were many confusing and embarrassing moments, for we were quite ignorant of the customs and habits of American life.

For instance, we were very surprised even by the carriages as part of our very first experiences.

On seeing a vehicle with horses attached to it, we should easily have guessed what it was.

But really, we did not identify our mode of conveyance until the door had been opened, we were seated inside, and the horses had started off.

Then we realised we were riding in a carriage behind horses.

All of us wore the usual pair of swords at our sides and the hemp sandals.

So attired, we were taken to the modern hotel.

There we noticed, covering the interior, the valuable carpets and rugs, which in Japan only the more wealthy could buy from the importer's shop at so much a square inch to make purses and tobacco pouches with.

Here the carpet was laid over an entire room, something quite astounding, and upon this costly fabric walked our hosts, wearing the shoes with which they had come in from the streets.

We followed them in our hemp sandals.

Immediately, bottles were brought in, suddenly an explosion, the popping of champagne.

When the glasses were passed around, we noticed strange fragments floating in them.

Hardly did we expect to find ice in the warm spring weather.

Some of the party swallowed these floating particles, others expelled them suddenly, others bravely chewed them.

This was an adventure, finding out that they were ice.

I wanted to have a smoke, but seeing no tobacco tray, such as in Japan is placed before the smoker, to hold the burning charcoal brazier and the bamboo ash receiver, I took a light from the open fireplace.

Perhaps there was an ash tray and a box of matches on the table, but I did not recognise them as such.

I finished my smoke, but finding no ash receiver, I took out some of the tissue paper which we carried in place of handkerchiefs and, wrapping the ashes in it, crushed them very carefully and placed the ball in my sleeve.

After a while, I took out the paper to have another smoke.

Some wisps of smoke were trickling from my sleeve.

The light that I had thought I had crushed out was quietly setting me afire.

After all these embarrassing incidents, I thought I could well sympathise with the Japanese bride.

Her new family, whom the bride has never met before, welcome her, tell her to make herself at home and do everything to make her comfortable.

One laughs with her, another engages her in conversation, all happy with the new addition to the family.

In the midst of all this, the bride has to sit, trying to look pleasant, but in her efforts, she goes on making mistakes and blushes every time.

Before leaving Japan, I, the independent soul, a carefree student who could look the world in the face, had feared nothing.

But on arriving in America, I was turned suddenly into a shy, self-conscious, blushing bride.

The contrast was indeed funny, even to myself.

One evening, our host had said that some ladies and gentlemen were having a dance party and they would be glad for us to attend it.

We went.

To our dismay, we could not quite make out what they were doing.

The ladies and gentlemen seemed to be hopping about the room together.

As funny as it was, we knew it would be rude to laugh and we controlled our expressions with difficulty as the dancing went on.

These were but a few of the instances of our bewilderment at the strange customs of American society.

On taking leave, our host and hostess kindly offered us horses to ride home on.

This pleased us, for a chance to ride horseback again was a relief.

Especially did Captain Kimura enjoy this, for he was an accomplished horseman who used to ride every day in Yeddo.

We touched whip to the horses and rode back to our quarters at a trot.

The Americans watched us and exclaimed at the Japanese ability in riding.

So neither of us knew much about the other at all.

Our hosts in San Francisco were very considerate in showing us examples of modern industry.

I am sure that our attentive hosts thought they were showing us something entirely new, naturally looking for our surprise at each new device of modern engineering.

But on the contrary, there was really nothing new, at least to me.

I knew the principle of the telegraph, even if I had not actually seen the machine before.

Rather, I was surprised by entirely different things in American life.

First of all, there seemed to be an enormous waste of iron everywhere.

In garbage piles, on the seashores, everywhere.

I found lying old tins, empty cans and broken tools.

This was remarkable to us, for in Yeddo, after a fire, there would be hundreds of poor people swarming in the ruined district, looking for nails in the charred wood.

So valuable was metal in Japan.

Then too, I was surprised at the high cost of daily commodities in California.

We had to pay a half dollar for a bottle of oysters, and there are only 20 or 30 in the bottle at that.

In Japan, the price of so many would only be a cent or two.

Things social, political and economic proved most inexplicable.

One day, on a sudden thought, I asked a gentleman where the descendants of George Washington might be.

He replied, I think there is a woman who is directly descended from Washington.

I don't know where she is now, but I think I have heard she is married.

His answer was so very casual that it shocked me.

Of course, I knew that America was a republic with a new president every four years, but I could not help feeling that the family of Washington should be regarded as apart from other families.

My reasoning was based on the reverence in Japan for the founders of the great lines of rulers, like that for Ieyasu of the Tokugawa family of shoguns, really deified in the popular mind.

So I remember the intense astonishment I felt at receiving this indifferent answer about the Washington family.

As for scientific inventions and industrial machinery, there was no great novelty in them for me.

It was more in matters of life and conventions of social customs and ways of thinking that I found myself at a loss in America.

I have already described the generosity of our hosts and the people in San Francisco.

Not only did they repair the damaged parts of our vessel, but they were thoughtful enough to build lockers in convenient places on board for the use of the crew.

When the ship was ready and we were preparing to set sail on the homeward voyage, we inquired how much we should have to pay for the repair of our ship and the expenses.

We were met with a kindly smile and we were obliged to sail away with our obligations unpaid.

Before sailing, the interpreter, Nakahama, and myself each bought a copy of Webster's Dictionary.

This, I know, was the very first importation of Webster's into Japan.

In spite of the general public dislike of all foreign studies, students in my school gradually increased after my return from America.

During my stay in San Francisco, I had come in contact with foreigners, had heard their language and made a special effort to improve my knowledge of English.

But as yet my knowledge of English was not sufficient, I still had to have much recourse to my Dutch-English dictionary.

Though I called myself a teacher, I was still a student along with those I was instructing.

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