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"On this wild coast, in
this almost unpeopled Island thus remote, I stand
solitary and alone,
a pioneer, as it were, upon the outpost of
civilization…” Horace Capron Japan
Journal. p. 89 |
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Maps of Japan and Hokkaido (click
to enlarge) |
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In 1871 at the age of 67, Horace Capron left the
Department of Agriculture and accepted an invitation from
the Government of Japan to lead a delegation to help develop
its northern province of Hokkaido.
The Japanese Government recognized his expertise in farming
and mineral development. They considered it a coup to have
Capron accept the position.
The Japanese government paid him $10,000 plus expenses to
undertake the mission.
Family pressures may also have been a factor. His youngest
son, Osmond, had been blinded when rescuing people from a
hotel fire – and now depended on his father for support.
In Japan Horace Capron experienced extraordinary beauty,
earthquakes, beheadings, betrayal, new lands and new
peoples. He met the Emperor-and the Hokkaido's
soon-to-be-displaced native population. The experience was
the capstone of his career—and an amazing adventure
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