Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

MANSFIELD, MIKE • 175
Hawaii, and Manjiro chose to accompany Whitfield to his hometown
of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Manjiro spent four years in Massachusetts,
where he attended public school, studied English and mathematics,
and became proficient at navigation and sailing. He and two
of his fellow castaways returned to Japan in 1851, 10 years after they
were believed lost at sea. Manjiro was elevated to honorary status of
samurai and allowed to take a family name, Nakahama, from the
name of his village on Shikoku Island. He worked occasionally for
the Tokugawa government as an interpreter, and accompanied the
Shogun’s Embassy to the United States in 1860. In 1870, the Meiji
government included Manjiro on a mission to the United States and
Europe. Unlike another well-known Japanese castaway, Joseph
Heco, Manjiro never wrote a memoir of his overseas experiences. After
his death in 1898, several works of fact and fiction were published
on Manjiro emphasizing his gaman (strength, courage) and his role
as a bridge between Japan and America. See also CASTAWAY
SAILORS, JAPANESE; SAKOKU.
MANSFIELD, MIKE (1903–2001). Long-serving Democrat congressman
and senator from the state of Montana, Mike Mansfield
was also a professor of political science and history. After Lyndon B.
Johnson was elected as vice president on the ticket with John F.
Kennedy in 1960, Mansfield became the Senate majority leader from
1961 to 1977. Mansfield criticized fellow Democrat President Lyndon
Johnson’s policies during the Vietnam War. After he decided not
to run for reelection to the Senate in 1976, newly elected President
Jimmy Carter asked Mansfield to serve as United States Ambassador
to Japan. After President Carter was defeated in 1980, the politically
conservative Republican President-elect Ronald Reagan surprisingly
asked the politically liberal Democrat Mike Mansfield to remain at
his post as ambassador. Mansfield continued to serve throughout
Ronald Reagan’s two terms. As ambassador, Mike Mansfield dealt
with many of the trade friction issues between Japan and the United
States. He also became famous for stating in several speeches that,
“the Japan–U.S. relationship is the most important relationship in the
world, bar none.” Just before leaving office in January 1989, President
Reagan awarded Mike Mansfield the Presidential Medal of
Freedom in a ceremony at the White House.