Description
- Abstract:
- Portion of framed scroll, dated 1854 according to the Preservation Society of Newport County; executed by Japanese artists to document Commodore Matthew Perry's opening of trade with Japan.
- Notes:
- Owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County.
- Translation (right to left): 1. GRAVE OF THE MARINE WHO DIED ON THE MISSISSIPPI IN JAPANESE WATERS: Yokohama Village, Zotokuji Temple, grave of an American, Robert Williams, from Esuland. [In phonetics; probably means from the East Coast.] R.W. [These are the initials on the inside of the footstone.] Size of Footstone [in U.S.A. measurements:] Length 1 shaku 5 bu [1 shaku = 1 foot]. Width 1 shaku 4 bu [1 sun = 1/10 foot]. Thickness 1 sun 2 bu [1 bu = 1/10 of a sun]. Measurements of the grave, for the body and from marker to marker = 6 shaku. Indication given as to which way the head lies and which way for the feet. There are white letters on a black slab. Headstone: height 3 shaku 5 sun 5 bu; width: 1 shaku 2 sun 6 bu; thickness: 1 sun 7 bu. The characters over the English words on the headstone read: Monument to the memory of, personal name and official rank [not filled in or explained], warship, corps [the name of a place is incorrectly used here], departed [the word for "setting sail" is used instead of the word for "departed this life"] on board the United States Ship MISSISSIPPI, port of Yedo, Japan, 3rd month, 6th day, 1854. 24 years old. [Note written along the side.] March 6th in the American count is February 1st in the Japanese count.
Access Conditions
- Rights
- No Copyright - United States
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
"Grave stone and ship parts"
(1854).
Perry in Japan: a visual history.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:304921/
Relations
Collection:
-
Perry in Japan: a visual history
Materials for use in cross-cultural evaluation of Perry's encounter with the Japanese....