“Heart of a Samurai,” by Margi Preus.
Amulet Books, New York, 2010, 301 pages, Grades 5-8.
Adventure books are often mixed with journeys through the forces of nature and the changes in the hearts of people. The main characters in these stories must travel over long distances and face many dangers.
Fourteen-year old Manjiro is such a person: born into a poor Japanese family living near the Pacific Ocean, Manjiro knows his position in the world is fixed. All of his ancestors have been fishermen and so his destiny is set. Social change is not part of the Japanese culture. But still, he dreams. What would it be like to be one of the noble samurai? In the medal-winning novel, “Heart of a Samurai,” Margi Preus describes the brave steps taken by Manjiro to achieve this dream.
The fishing trip starts like all fishing trips. The youngest member of a fishing crew, Manjiro helps row the boat to the best fishing spot. The fishing is so good that the crew neglects to pay attention to an approaching storm. Suddenly, their boat is in danger of sinking and begins drifting away from Japan.
After a number of days, the fishermen are rescued by an American whaling ship. They are confused by the different hair colors of the crew and remember that foreigners are considered devils in Japan.
However, after some months, Manjiro makes friendships with some of the crew, including the captain. He sees their humanity and begins to like the Americans. But Manjiro is stunned and appalled when he sees them kill a whale, only to learn that the Americans use the oil and bones in the whale to heat their homes and manufacturing items. All the time, his heart aches to see his mother and his Japanese homeland. When the ship eventually returns to New England, the young man learns about railroads, telegraphs and other American inventions. He also experiences racial discrimination. Some Americans view him as some sort of a devil.
Caught between two worlds, Manjiro tries to reconcile the differences. He ships out a final time to return to Japan. His longing for his family and his homeland is tempered with the frightening realization that the Japanese government may punish him for leaving Japan. As his ship approaches, he is given a rowboat to land in Japan. What happens?
Is Manjiro captured by the Japanese government? Has he become a foreign devil to the Japanese? How does his family respond to his return? Have you ever been split between two places? How does Manjiro show us the courage of a samurai? To find out the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out this acclaimed novel, “Heart of a Samurai,” by Margi Preus.
This book is based on the life of Manjiro, one of the first Japanese to ever come to the United States. Having learned English, he was utilized by the Japanese to communicate with Commodore Perry’s party when Japan was forcefully opened to the world by the United States. A Japanese leader honors him by making the fisherman’s son a samurai. Throughout his life, Manjiro continues to be a bridge between Western ideas and traditional Japanese society. As Preus shows, this truly takes the heart of a samurai. I hope you get a chance to read this fine book. Change will not come easy for Japan or the United States and can only be bridged by understanding our common needs and desires.
