Native American Explorer, Ranald MacDonald, and Comicbook Artist, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama

SUMMARY

In a talk illustrated with slides, Frederik L. Schodt, will introduce the story of two pioneers, and discuss what they accomplished, why they were forgotten, and why they should be remembered.

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DESCRIPTION

Most of written history leaves out the extraordinary accomplishments of ordinary pioneers, especially when they do not fit neatly into a national narrative. Two examples related to North America and Japan are Ranald MacDonald, the adventurer, and Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama, the artist. MacDonald was a young half-Chinook, half-Scot who deliberately marooned himself on an island off Hokkaido in 1848—five years before the arrival of Commodore Perry. During a nearly ten month stay in Japan, he taught English to the official government interpreters in Nagasaki, thus indirectly helping Japan preserve her independence during later negotiations with foreign governments. Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama arrived in the United States in 1904 from Japan, and studied and worked as a fine artist in San Francisco until 1937, when he returned to his homeland. In 1927, Kiyama created what is arguably one of the first “comicbooks,” or “graphic novels” ever published in the United States.

In a talk illustrated with slides, Frederik L. Schodt, will introduce the story of both of these pioneers, and discuss what they accomplished, why they were forgotten, and why they should be remembered.

Schodt’s Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japanwas named one of the outstanding academic titles of 2004 by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (published by the American Library Association). For more information, please refer tohttp://www.jai2.com/RM.htm . His translation of Henry Kiyama’s work was published in 1998 under the title of The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924. In 2000, it was a finalist for the USA Pen/West translation award. For more information, please refer tohttp://www.jai2.com/HK.htm.

Bio
Frederik L. Schodt is an award-winning author of numerous non-fiction books on the convergence of Japanese and American cultures, with subjects ranging from manga to technology to history. He is also a well-known translator of Japanese manga and literature, and a conference interpreter in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2009 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for helping to introduce and promote Japanese contemporary popular culture. His website ishttp://www.jai2.com  (profile @ http://www.jai2.com/fredbio.htm | biblio @http://www.jai2.com/Mybiblio.htm ). His latest book is Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan—And Japan to the West.