Did a Close Encounter of the Third Kind Occur on a Japanese Beach in 1803?

Yanagida Kunio (1875-1962), who was the great folkiorist in Japan, published a paper entitled "The Story of Utsubo-fune" in 1925 (Yanagida 1962). He was so famous as a folklorist that his complete works can be found in almost every university and public library in Japan. In his paper, he introduced many folklore of Utsubo-fune. For example, he presents a typical folkiore which states the origin of a Kawano family in Iyo district (present Ehime Prefecture) as follows:

A long rime ago, a fisherman named Wakitaro living on Gogono Island was working on the sea. He found a Urszebo-fune on the sea and he towed it to his home. He found a girl whose age was about twelve or thirteen inside this boat. She told him that she was a daughter of a king in China. Since she was involved in a scandal in her homeland, she was forced out to sea in this boat. The fisherman named her Wake-hime and brought her up. She later became a princess of a king in Iyo district and gave birth to Ochimiko, who was the beginning of Kawano family.

In his paper, we can find another interesting folklore that has been handed down as a song in Kyushu Island (figure 4). This song contains many phrases similar to those in the story Toen Shousetsu ". . . a daughter of a noble man ..."; " . . . she was sent into the sea in an Utsuro-fune because of her scandal ..."; "... the boat was made of red sandalwood, ebony, and Chinese wood..."; "...the glass (window) was shielded with chan..."; "...it was possible to distinguish between day and night through the glass (window)..."; "...the food in the boat was delicious cake...", etc. In some folklore, the boat is eventually forced to be sent away.

Yanagida Kunio has also referred to the story of Toen Shousetsu, and he concluded in his 1925 paper that the story is definitely fiction (Yanagida 1962). The basis of his conclusion are as follows:

(1) Apparently, the story is based on folklore that has been handed down in many parts in Japan. People will easily believe this story because they have always heard similar stories elsewhere.

(2) The characters found inside the boat (see figure 1) do not correspond to any language in the world.

(3) At the end of the story the boat is eventually sent out to sea with the woman inside. The story was constructed so that no one can verify this incident later.

(4) The features of the woman in the boat are very similar to those of a Western white woman. At that time, Japanese were afraid of Western countries such as Russia, Britain, and the U.S.A.

Identification of the Incident's Location

Yanagida's conclusions are persuasive. When we try to identify the exact place of the incident in Japan, his conclusions are further supported. To find the exact place where the boat drifted ashore, the following place names can be used:

(1) Haratono-[hama.sup.2] in a territory of Ogasawara Izumi in Hitachi state. (Ume no Chin)

(2) A beach called Hara-yadori in a territory of Ogasawara Etchou-no-kami in Hitachi state with 4000 koku. He had occupied a position named "Yoriai-seki" of Tokagawa shogunate. (Toen Shousetsu)