The Lady Washington in Kushimoto, Japan

If you ever thought the old T’s and sweatshirts from when the Lady was launched need to be in a museum, you can now rest easy to know that they are – you just have to go to Japan to see them. Last weekend I had the honor of visiting the US – Japan Amity Memorial Hall (also known as the US-Japan Friendship Museum) in Kushimoto, Japan to experience first hand where the Lady had landed on foreign soil and changed a history.

Japan, in 1791 was still a much closed society and contact with foreigners could lead to exile or execution. So the arrival of the Lady Washington and Grace, the first foreign visitors (minus some dealings with the Dutch in Nagasaki), was not viewed in a positive light. During their 11-day stay, anchored in the calm waters between the mainland city of Kushimoto and Oshima Island, the crew collected wood and water, shot at seabirds, and attempted to trade (though the Japanese were not interested). As a result of their visit, the Japanese expanded their coastal security and surveys as ways to protect themselves from further unwanted visitors..


Today, Japan embraces tourists and this museum is one way of showing it. The Friendship Hall is out on Oshima Island, 45-minutes by bus from Kushimoto Town, and then another 10-minute walk down a quiet residential street to the edge of the island. There is a small parking lot, a US and Japan flag, and several trails that lead to lookouts of the jagged south end where the Lady could not and did not anchor. Upon entering the museum, I am greeted by an extremely friendly woman who doesn’t know a word n English but makes up for it in smiles and chatter. She immediately turns on a CD and David LoVine starts singing Brave Boys. I walk in the hall and am presented a glassed in, preserved version of the Lady’s gift shop I once ran – the tea brick, scrimshaw boxes, pins, T’s and coffee mugs were all displayed as sacred artifacts. The walls are graced with pictures of the crew, including Captains Les Bolton and Gary Stugard.

I first heard of the museum from Bob Kennedy back in 2003 who sent me a photo of the ship’s model that is the prominent piece in the hall. I had never heard of the museum even though I had been with the boat for five years by then. Obviously the office knew, as board member Price Chenault had already visited, and officials from Kushimoto town had even visited the Lady and gone sailing in 1996, and the entire contents of the gift shop had been presented to them. But like many things in an oral tradition, people just stopped talking about it, and the memories faded. But after seeing that photo from Bob, the idea of visiting this museum didn’t fade for me, and now, many years later, I have been there, and I have seen it and I am sharing photos so you will remember it, too.

To visit the US-Japan Amity Hall, fly into Kansai Airport (by Kyoto and Osaka), take the airport limousine bus to Wakayama (40 minutes), then the train south to Kushimoto (2 hours).