Nozuka Observatory & Cycling Park was added to Your Favorites!
Rishiri Rebun Sarobetsu NP, Hokkaido
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
At 24, Ranald MacDonald came ashore alone at Nozuka on July 2, 1848—5 years before Commodore Perry. He had arranged to leave a whaling ship and pose as a shipwrecked sailor to enter closed Japan.
MacDonald was Clatsop Chinook through his mother, Koale’xoa. On Rishiri, Ainu residents met him first and accepted his shipwreck story before Japanese officials sent him onward.
At Nagasaki, prisoner MacDonald became a teacher: for 7 months he taught English to 14 Dutch interpreters. One pupil, Moriyama Einosuke, later served as a chief Japanese interpreter during Perry’s 1854 arrival.
MacDonald’s story still sends island students across the Pacific: Rishiri High School’s 2024 U.S. exchange brought about 2 students to his home country to meet the MacDonald Society and his descendants.
The first MacDonald memorial here was a wooden marker, erected in 1987; age and strong winds brought it down. The town and Rishiri Rotary Club rebuilt it in 1996, adding a literary marker for Akira Yoshimura’s novel.
The 24.9-km island cycling trail begins here and ends at Rishiri Town Sports Park. It passes kelp-drying grounds, so in season a ride may reveal the hands-on work behind Rishiri kombu.
