# American history via Edo Japan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 17, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661 "2018-11-17T03:36:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/1 "2018-11-17T03:36:51Z")
Someone recently stumbled across [a book on US History](https://soranews24.com/2018/11/16/edo-period-japanese-book-depicts-u-s-history-in-hilariously-awesome-illustrations/) published in Japan in 1861. Someone _really_ needs to do a full English translation! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/2 "2018-11-17T04:36:02Z")
It’s an interesting perspective. American textbooks tend to focus on John Adams’ role in the Continental Congress and as our second President. But this textbook instead focuses on how John Adam’s mother was eaten by a giant snake and Adams summoned a giant eagle with the help of a friendly fairy so he and the eagle could kill the snake in battle. You really need to learn both sides to get an understanding of this complex figure in American history. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/3 "2018-11-17T15:14:02Z")
“Book of American history” titled “Children’s Illustrated Tales from 10,000 Countries” mind you. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/4 "2018-11-17T15:18:35Z")
I wonder if the image of Ben Franklin holding that cannon influenced Forrest Tucker’s characyer in _The Deerslayer_: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=A2KIbNPDMPBbWRQAyTtXNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p="The+Deerslayer"+forrest+Tucker+movie+posters&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t#id=29&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F96%2F89%2F7b%2F96897b3040e67d48b32e901f65b64623.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A2KIbNPDMPBbWRQAyTtXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=%22The+Deerslayer%22+forrest+Tucker+movie+posters&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t#id=29&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F96%2F89%2F7b%2F96897b3040e67d48b32e901f65b64623.jpg&action=click) [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=A2KLfR4fMfBba2wADYpXNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p="The+Deerslayer"+forrest+Tucker&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t#id=92&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.encyclocine.com%2Ffilms%2Fen47099.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A2KLfR4fMfBba2wADYpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=%22The+Deerslayer%22+forrest+Tucker&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t#id=92&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.encyclocine.com%2Ffilms%2Fen47099.jpg&action=click) I think his character dies as a result of doing this. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/5 "2018-11-17T15:23:31Z")
My edition of the script of _Rashomon_ has, among its illustrations, one from a book illustrating Mathew Peary’s “opening of Japan”. It looks like this: [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Admiral+Matthew+Peary+Japanese+drawing&fr=yfp-t&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F83%2F60%2F84%2F83608408e353d4af92bf81b6f086333f.jpg#id=1&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F83%2F60%2F84%2F83608408e353d4af92bf81b6f086333f.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Admiral+Matthew+Peary+Japanese+drawing&fr=yfp-t&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F83%2F60%2F84%2F83608408e353d4af92bf81b6f086333f.jpg#id=1&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F83%2F60%2F84%2F83608408e353d4af92bf81b6f086333f.jpg&action=click) For the record, Peary really looked like this: [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#/media/File:Commodore_Matthew_Calbraith_Perry.png) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#/media/File:Commodore_Matthew_Calbraith_Perry.png) Another Japanese print is bit more accurate: [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#/media/File:Gasshukoku_suishi_teitoku_k%C5%8Dj%C5%8Dgaki_(Oral_statement_by_the_American_Navy_admiral).png) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#/media/File:Gasshukoku_suishi_teitoku_k%C5%8Dj%C5%8Dgaki_(Oral_statement_by_the_American_Navy_admiral).png) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/6 "2018-11-17T15:46:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > My edition of the script of _Rashomon_ has, among its illustrations, one from a book illustrating Mathew Peary’s “opening of Japan”. It looks like this: > > [Admiral Matthew Peary Japanese drawing - Yahoo Image Search Results](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Admiral+Matthew+Peary+Japanese+drawing&fr=yfp-t&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F83%2F60%2F84%2F83608408e353d4af92bf81b6f086333f.jpg#id=1&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F83%2F60%2F84%2F83608408e353d4af92bf81b6f086333f.jpg&action=click) That’s less photorealistic and more, “Look, this guy’s a foreigner”, with the big nose, and all the hair. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/7 "2018-11-17T16:58:32Z")
> [@naita](#): > > “Book of American history” titled “Children’s Illustrated Tales from 10,000 Countries” mind you. In China, and by extension, Japan 10,000 is sort of a [magic number](http://www.mother-god.com/ten-thousand-things.html) denoting “everything there is.” ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-via-edo-japan/824661/8 "2018-11-17T18:50:34Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > In China, and by extension, Japan 10,000 is sort of a [magic number](http://www.mother-god.com/ten-thousand-things.html) denoting “everything there is.” Sure, but the more important part is “Children’s illustrated tale”. For an actual look at how American history was perceived it would be more interesting to look at the book’s sources: > [@](#): > > Osanaetoki Bankokubanashi is based on two second hand sources, Kaikoku Zushi (“Drawings of Foreign Countries”) and Amerika Ittōshi (“American Unified History”). Perhaps the fact that the author and illustrator were creating these pages third-hand explains some of these magnificent creations: