Foreigners for Hire: Drifting Sailors Encountered in Matsumae: Discrimination and Treatment as Observed by Gaikokujin Ranaldo Macdonald during the Kaei Era

Foreigners for Hire: Drifting Sailors Encountered in Matsumae: Discrimination and Treatment as Observed by Gaikokujin Ranaldo Macdonald during the Kaei Era

The treatment of foreigners in Japan during the Kaei era was not uniform. The system of isolation tends to be spoken of as a framework for excluding foreigners, but in practice, treatment differed greatly depending on who the person was, how he or she behaved, and what he or she brought to the table. Matsumae in the Ezo region was one of the places where these differences were most blatantly apparent.

Ranaldo MacDonald, a gringo transported to Matsumae, learned of another group of castaways there. They were fifteen U.S.-registered sailors who had been detained by the Japanese after being shipwrecked and cast adrift. They acted in groups, many of them displaying rough behavior, and communication was hardly established. Therefore, although they initially received minimal protection, their treatment gradually deteriorated. The surveillance became more and more severe, the environment deteriorated, and some of them fell ill or even took their own lives.

This situation is not simply cruelty on the part of the Japanese, but rather shows the process by which the logic of management reached a dead end. A group whose language was not understood and whose attitudes were not controlled remained dangerous and unidentifiable to the officials. What was most repellent in an isolated society was the stranger whose intentions could not be read and with whom one could not form a relationship.

In contrast, McDonald's treatment was relatively benign. He was alone, he was not rude, he was willing to learn Japanese, and he was able to hold a conversation with a translator. His language ability was not just a skill, but proof that he was an understandable being. He was not completely trusted, but the degree of danger was kept low.

What we see here is a clear pecking order that existed within the single category of aliens. Whether they were useful or not, manageable or not, polite or not. The decision was made not by the system, but by the feeling on the ground. McDonald was treated relatively mildly because he was seen as someone who could be handled both in terms of personality evaluation and practicality.

The tragedy of the drifting sailors encountered in Matsumae shows that isolationist Japan was not a simple exclusionist society. While aliens were rejected, they were also distinguished, used, and treated differently depending on the circumstances. Through this reality, McDonald learned both the ruthlessness and flexibility of Japanese society. It was not so much being an alien per se, but language, attitude, and the ability to form relationships that determined one's fate.