Shipwrecked! shares the adventures of Manjiro Nakahama who in 1841, as a fourteen-year-old fisherman, was shipwrecked along with four other fishermen on the desolate island of Torishima. After five months of surviving on the island, they were rescued by the American whaling ship, the John Howland. Because of Japan’s strict laws that isolated its people from the rest of the world, the Americans could not return Manjiro home. The highly-intelligent Manjiro spent his teens and young adult life learning about the customs and culture of the United States and the other countries he visited while working on whaling ships. Manjiro always hoped to return home to his family and share what he learned with the government of Japan, but Japanese’s laws condemned travelers from overseas to death. Manjiro lived an amazing life. Shipwrecked! contains maps, illustrations, and photographs of Manjiro’s travels.
