Sign at the site of John Manjiro's house in Koto-ku, Tokyo. He served as a translator for the Shogunate when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853.

Famous for getting shipwrecked on a small island while fishing and getting rescued by an American whaling ship which took him to America where he worked for 8 years. He returned to Japan in 1851 with valuable knowledge of the West. He served the Tosa Clan from Kochi Prefecture from 1868 and their large Tokyo residence (shimo-yashiki) was located here. Manjiro lived here for 11 years while teaching at the university that was to become Univ. of Tokyo.