EAST, WEST, HOME'S BEST, John Manjiro in America: A Play in Eleven Scenes, by Gavin Bantock

EAST, WEST, HOME'S BEST, John Manjiro in America

A Play in Eleven Scenes, by Gavin Bantock

An absorbing biographical drama covering the ten years of the life a young Japanese fisherman named Manjiro. At the age of fourteen he and four companions were shipwrecked on an island in the Pacific Ocean, and after seven months were rescued by an American whaling ship.

The play reveals the hardships Manjiro had to endure as a foreigner in the United States. He was bullied by school children and regarded as an undesirable alien, but was fortunate to find a few friends.

Manjiro later took part in the Californian Gold Rush, and after facing various dangers, earned enough money to return to Japan, where he was re-united with his mother.

Published by FIRST SERVANT BOOKS