In the novel by James Claywell "Shogun", it is described how in 1600 an Englishman set foot on the land of Japan, then still mysterious for Europeans. It is known that in 1653 three Portuguese were thrown there by a storm. But when did the first Russians come to Japan? This is what our story will go about today.
When in 1721 Russia, following the victorious Northern War, signed a peace treaty with Sweden, she received not only the long-awaited peace, but access to the Baltic Sea. That is, the "window to Europe" was finally cut through by Peter I. Now, the tsar decided, one could think about the positions of the Russian state on the far Pacific shores. Peter has long wanted to send an expedition to the Pacific Ocean in order to explore the eastern coast of the Russian Empire. For example, she had to find out whether somewhere in the east Asia connects with America, or whether the two continents are separated by an ocean. Another idea was to find a convenient sea route to Japan, then almost unknown to Europeans. Peter made the decision to organize an expedition in January 1725, but soon after that he died. Well, the Dane Vitus Bering was appointed to lead the expedition.
Bot "Saint Gabriel". His prefabricated model of wooden parts is being produced in Russia today.
And the will of the deceased Peter turned out to be so strong that his undertaking was eventually successfully brought to an end. The expedition was called Kamchatka, and it was carried out in two stages: first in 1725-1730, and then in 1733-1741. At first, Bering established that America is not a continuation of the Asian continent. Then Bering decided to reach the shores of North America, for which to cross the Pacific Ocean, but an officer of the Russian fleet and his assistant Martyn Shpanberg, also a Dane, was sent to the shores of Japan to the south of the Russian service. In the decree of the Senate, the task of the expedition in the southern direction was defined as "finding a way to Japan" and further, in order "to overcome their long-standing Asian unsociability with our friendship."
The main port of Russia on the Pacific Ocean in 1735 was Okhotsk. There was a primitive shipyard, where in three years two small sailing ships were built: "Archangel Michael" and "Nadezhda", and the boat "Saint Gabriel" was overhauled. The flagship of the expedition was made "Archangel Michael" under the command of Spanberg himself. The vessel was a very small single-masted brigantine with a crew of 63 people. On board the boat "Saint Gabriel" 44 people went to sea, led by Lieutenant Wilim (Vadim) Walton, an Englishman by birth. The three-masted double-dinghy "Nadezhda" sailed under the command of midshipman Shelting the Dutchman.
And here is a double-dinghy.
The travelers tried to get to Japan in the summer of 1738. They crossed the Sea of Okhotsk and headed south along the Kuril Islands to the island of Urup, but then were forced to turn back due to lack of food. Moreover, Shpanberg and Shelton went to Okhotsk, and Walton went to Bolsheretsk in Kamchatka. The fact was that Spanberg did not know the exact distance that they had to travel to Japan and therefore took with him less food than was required.
Well, this is a modern Japanese ship. But where did the Japanese swim on them, I wonder?
The next year, in the month of May, all the ships of the expedition gathered in Bolsheretsk, where they were also approached by the 18-oar sloop Bolsheretsk, which by that time had been built in Kamchatka. The voyage began again along the Kuril Islands, but due to frequent fogs, "Saint Gabriel" under the command of Walton fought off the rest of the ships, but reached the northeastern coast of Honshu together with everyone and practically at the same time. True, at the same time Walton turned out to be much farther south than Spanberg.
Perhaps no one conveyed such a specific beauty of Japan as Katsushika Hokusai (1760 - 1849). Here is his woodcut "In the Waves of the Sea at Kanagawa" circa 1831, Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo.
On June 18, Spanberg's ship finally dropped anchor in view of the Japanese village of Nagawatari in Rikuzen province. And the next day, Walton landed on the shore near the village of Amatsumura in the province of Awa. After that, Spanberg moved further south and in Tashirohama Bay anchored in view of the village of Isomura. Here, an official of the local daimyo Masamune Date, Kansichiro Chiba, boarded him. He examined the ship and tried to talk to Spanberg, but the Ainu who were taken as translators did not know the Russian language, Spanberg and Tiba did not manage to explain themselves. True, Spanberg at least made sure that he really got to the shores of Japan and was able to show on the map that his ships arrived here from Russia. This is how Russian travelers met for the first time with a Japanese official, and Kansichiro Chiba, through gestures, persistently tried to show that they should leave Japan. (It is clear that they did not know about the harsh edicts of 1639 on the country's self-isolation, which ordered all Japanese under pain of severe punishment to refrain from any contact with foreigners at all costs. In 1736, it was ordered to restrict calls to the ports of Japan.)
"Ejiri Bay in Sunshu Province". Hokusai K. 1830-33 British Museum, London.
Therefore, Spanberg did not go ashore, but turned the "Archangel Michael" to the north, and already on August 14, 1739 returned back to Bolsheretsk. As evidence of his stay in Japan, he also brought with him two gold Japanese coins, which he received for … two cuts of Russian cloth. He attached both of these coins to his report on the voyage, sent to St. Petersburg.
Suruga-cho in Edo (such a block). Hokusai K. circa 1831 Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo.
But Walton turned out to be more decisive than Spanberg, and, having reached the ground on June 19, 1739, ordered his navigator Kazimierov, quartermaster Cherkashin and six more sailors to go ashore, and not only get fresh water there, but also inspect the village of Amatsumura. It was these people who turned out to be the first subjects of the Russian Empire to walk on Japanese soil. Here, too, there was contact with a local official, and it was also not possible to explain to him. Walton presented both the official and the Japanese who came with him with gifts “to show them a pleasant friendship,” after which he continued his journey southward and reached Shimoda Bay. Here the ship's crew again took fresh water, after which on June 23, "St. Gabriel" set off back and a month later returned safely to Bolsheretsk.
“Victorious wind. Clear day . 1830-31 Hokusai K. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
We have received a message from navigator Kazimerov about his visit to the Japanese village of Amatsumura. In it, he writes that he walked around the village and counted about one and a half thousand households in it. That the houses in it are wooden and stone, and the houses of the Japanese are very clean and there are flower beds … in porcelain cups. There are also shops with goods, paper and silk fabrics; and their cattle are cows and horses, and also chickens. But there is no bread at all; only rice and peas, but grapes grow, and also oranges (oranges) … and radishes.
And here are the images of the then Japanese women: "The beauties of the teahouse." Isoda Koryusai (1735-1790). Brooklyn Museum.
This is how the Russians came to Japan for the first time. Moreover, in January 2005, in the town of Kamogawa, which grew up on the site of the village of Amatsumura, a memorial stone was even erected about that event with the inscription: "The place of the first landing of Russians on the shores of Japan."
"Autumn walk along the mountain with friends." Tanke Gessen, Edo period (late 18th century). Vertical scroll, ink and paints on paper. Oxford, Ashmolean Museum.
P. S. Well, for Spanberg, his journey ended … with a denunciation, in which it was written that he had not been to any Japan, but sailed only to Korea. To put an end to the rumors that had spread and defamed him, Spanberg organized another expedition from Okhotsk to the shores of Japan in 1742. The purpose of the expedition was: "With them, the Japanese, neighboring friendship and for the benefit of both states to bring commerce, from which both sides of the subjects of considerable profit." The translators included two students of the Petersburg School of Japanese Language, Fenev and Shenanykin. And as a safety net, the Russified Japanese Yakov Maksimov, who was brought to Kamchatka by a typhoon in 1718, was also sent with him. However, storms did not allow Spanberg to approach the Japanese shores, and the expedition returned to Okhotsk, without completing its task. True, in 1750, already Spanberg's son, Andrei, who also participated in his father's expedition to Japan, turned to the Governing Senate with a request to equip another expedition in order to secure the path paved by his father to Japan. However, for some reason his request was never granted.
