By John Manjiro. Illustrated by Kawada Shoryo and John Manjiro.

An incredible but true adventure story, with deep historical significance. Here is the story of John Manjiro, a 14-year-old boy from isolationist Japan, who was shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean with three other companions. Readers will be engrossed by the story of their rescue and the events that followed. Manjiro was raised as an American in Fairhaven, Massachusetts by Captain William Whitfield, and was not able to return to his homeland until he earned enough money to do so by joining the California gold rush.

The first known visitor to the Western World, Manjiro was interrogated at length upon his return to Japan. His testimony was recorded in a manuscript called the Hyoson Kiryaku. Drifting Toward the Southeast is the first English translation of that manuscript for a popular audience, complete with illustrations and maps from original copies of the manuscript housed in Fairhaven, Massachusett’s Millicent Library and Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum.

Paper: 144 pp.