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Japanese ship docks in wake of momentous voyage Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The San Francisco waterfront is hosting a rare visitor through this weekend - the Japanese sail training ship Kaiwo Maru, a big, handsome vessel with four masts and a crew of cadets
The Kaiwo Maru, which sails for Hawaii on Sunday, is here to commemorate the voyage of the Kanrin Maru, which arrived in San Francisco 150 years ago this spring. It was the first Japanese ship to visit the United States
"We are making our voyage in the wake of the Kanrin Maru," Makoto Inui, captain of the Kaiwo Maru, said at a welcoming ceremony Wednesday.
Though the modern Kaiwo Maru has auxiliary engines, Inui wanted to duplicate the 1860 voyage of the earlier ship as closely as possible. "So," he said, "we made 90 percent of our trip under sail."
The Kaiwo Maru left Tokyo Bay on April 7 and took almost a month to make the 5,400-mile voyage to San Francisco.
To make the trip more authentic, the Kaiwo Maru had a single passenger - Yoshiharu Masai, a 72-year-old retired businessman who is a descendant of Kosugi Masanoshin, an 18-year-old engineering officer aboard the Kanrin Maru.
Masai was by far the oldest person on the Kaiwo Maru, where 107 of the 170 people aboard are cadets or trainees studying to be officers in the Japanese merchant marine.
"I wanted to experience what my ancestor did," said Masai, who had never been on a sailing ship voyage before. To show he had what it takes, he climbed to the top of the mainmast, almost 16o feet above the deck while the ship was at sea
When the Kaiwo Maru entered the Golden Gate on Monday morning, Masai joined the cadets who stood on the spars of the foremast. He is not sure he would do it again. "I'm too old to be a cadet," he said.
The Kaiwo Maru is one of two sail training ships operated by Japan's National Institute of Sea Training. Though it is built to a 19th century design, the ship was built in 1989 to modern standards and equipped with an impressive display of electronics.
Several countries, including the United States, use sail training ships to teach teamwork and give cadets a taste of the sea. The U.S. Coast Guard's sailing ship Eagle visited San Francisco two years ago
"Once they learn how to operate this ship, they can operate any ship," said Inui, the captain.
Ship to be open to public today The Japanese sail training ship Kaiwo Maru, which is docked at Pier 27 at the foot of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, will be open to the public today
When: From 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m
Admission: Free.
What else: There will be Japanese cultural events on Pier 27 starting at 2 p.m. The band from San Francisco's George Washington High School will play as the ship sails
Setting sail: The ship sails at 3:30 p.m. Sunday for Honolulu.
E-mail Carl Nolte at cnolte@sfchronicle.com.