Kiri Matsuya a student at Hokkaido Rishiri High School in Japan stands with classmate, Tatito Ishikawa, teacher Kayoko Suzuki on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 at the homesite where 19th century adventurer Ranald MacDonald died , near Curlew, Wash. The students were in the US on a tour led by translator, Atsumi McCauley, and guide Madilane Perry, of the Ferry County Historical Society. MacDonald famously posed as a shipwrecked sailor in 1844 on Japan's Rishiri Island -- where, in present day, Matsuya and her compatriots reside. MacDonald's ruse worked to bypass the isolationist-era Japanese law stating that it was a capital offense to enter Japan. Although he was made a prisoner, MacDonald spent seven months teaching English to samurai interpreters. One of these samurai, Moriyama Einosuke, became a key interpreter later in Japanese history as Western influences came into Japan. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
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Kiri Matsuya, a student at Hokkaido Rishiri High School in Japan, stands with classmate Tatito Ishikawa and teacher Kayoko Suzuki on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 at the homesite where 19th century adventurer Ranald MacDonald died, near Curlew, Wash. The students were in the U.S. on a tour led by translator Atsumi McCauley and guide Madilane Perry of the Ferry County Historical Society. MacDonald famously posed as a shipwrecked sailor in 1844 on Japan’s Rishiri Island — where, in present day, Matsuya and her compatriots reside. MacDonald’s ruse worked to bypass the isolationist-era Japanese law stating that it was a capital offense to enter Japan. Although he was made a prisoner, MacDonald spent seven months teaching English to samurai interpreters. One of these samurai, Moriyama Einosuke, became a key interpreter later in Japanese history as Western influences came into Japan.
