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

176 • MARIA LUZ INCIDENT
MARIA LUZ INCIDENT. In 1872, the Peruvian ship Maria Luz anchored
in Yokohama Bay to avoid a storm. The ship was carrying
over 200 Chinese laborers bound for Peru. A Japanese court determined
that the Chinese were mistreated and should be allowed to return
to China. This resulted in a diplomatic incident between Japan
and Peru eventually settled through negotiations mediated by Russia
and the American minister to Japan, Charles De Long. The Maria
Luz Incident also publicized the often poor treatment of Asian immigrant
laborers.
MARINE POLICE. The Marine Police was an institution designed to
take all necessary measures at sea in emergencies. Its role was to protect
human life and property and to maintain peace and security at sea.
The Marine Police was established on 26 April 1952, and attached to
the Japan Coast Guard, an external agency of the Ministry of Transport.
On 1 August 1952, the Marine Police became the “Guard Police”
and was placed under the authority of the Peace Preservation Agency,
an external organ of the General Administrative Agency of the Cabinet.
On 1 July 1954, the Guard Police became the Maritime Self-Defense
Forces because of the enforcement of the Defense Agency Act and the
Self-Defense Forces Law. See also DEFENSE.
MATSUDAIRA, TADAATSU (1852?–1888). Tadaatsu Matsudaira
and his brother Tadanari attended Rutgers College in New Jersey in
the early 1870s. Tadaatsu transferred to Harvard and graduated in
1877, while Tadanari finished his studies at Rutgers in 1879 and returned
to Japan. Tadaatsu remained in the United States and worked
as an engineer for the Manhattan Elevated Railway in New York, for
the Union Pacific Railway in the West, and then became the city engineer
of Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1884. After marrying, having
two children, and contracting tuberculosis, he and his family moved
to Denver, Colorado, where he briefly worked for the Colorado state
government before dying in 1888. See also JAPANESE STUDENTS
IN AMERICA.
MATSUMURA, JUNZO (1842–1919). Junzo Matsumura was part of
group of young Japanese samurai from Satsuma domain who studied
in England from 1865–1867, and later lived at the Brotherhood