Japanese Titanic Survivor Ostracized

[Mulboyne]

A contributor to the Neomarxisme blog the other day brought up the case of Masabumi Hosono who survived the Titanic disaster. Hosono worked for the Transport Ministry and had been in Europe collecting data on railways. Search for his name on the web and you'll find a number of sites which tell his story although the details are sometimes in conflict. What seems undeniable is that he became a pariah at home for surviving when so many died. He lost his job and local papers suggested he should do the decent thing and commit suicide. This site suggests that there may have been a misunderstanding: "He had been wrongly identified in the world press as another Asian man who had been in lifeboat 13 and who had behaved 'badly.'" He died in 1939. His granddaughter later published his diary to help set the record straight but the turning point for his reputation appears to have been the release in 1997 of a letter he wrote to his wife while on board the rescue ship. This site takes up the story of that night:

"Hosono was woken by a knock on the door of his second class cabin. He raced outside but, as a foreigner, was ordered to the lower decks, away from the boats. 'All the while flares signalling emergency were being shot into the air ceaselessly, and hideous blue flashes and noises were simply terrifying. Somehow I could in no way dispel the feeling of utter dread and desolation,' Hosono wrote. Making his way back to the upper deck. 'I tried to prepare myself for the last moment with no agitation, making up my mind not to leave anything disgraceful as a Japanese. But still I found myself looking for and waiting for any possible chance for survival.' His chance came when an officer loading lifeboats shouted 'Room for two more.' A man jumped in. 'I myself was deep in desolate thought that I would no more be able to see my beloved wife and children, since there was no alternative for me than to share the same destiny as the Titanic. But the example of the first man making a jump led me to take this last chance...After the ship sank there came back again frightful shrills and cries of those drowning in the water. Our lifeboat too was filled with sobbing, weeping children and women worried about the safety of their husbands and fathers. 'And I, too, was as much depressed and miserable as they were, not knowing what would become of myself in the long run.'"

Hosono's grandson, Haruomi, was a founder-member of Yellow Magic Orchestra.