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Shimoda - Window to the world and Tojin-Okichi

The Russian Rear Admiral Yevfimy Putjatin came to Shimoda on his Diana in 1854, only four months later than Perry's departure. Unfortunately, because of the heavy earthquake and tsunami which happened in late autumn, Diana was seriously damaged (See the article on Heda).

In accordance with the Treaty, the first American Consul General Taunsend Harris opened the American consulate at Gyokusenji Temple in August 1856. As Harris was the first foreigner who lived on the Japanese soil, the introduction of diverse Western lifestyles is attributed to him. For example, there is a big monument in front of the main building of the Temple commemorating the beginning of cow milk drinking in Japan. A citrus tree is said to have been the tree to which a cow was tied and slaughtered for the first time in Japan to serve meat to Consul General Harris and his interpreter Heusken.

Harris stayed here till May 1859 when the US opened the legation in Azabu in accordance with the newly concluded Treaty of Amity and Commerce and Harris moved there from Shimoda.

While Harris stayed in Gyokusenji Temple, a seventeen years young girl Okichi was sent to the Consul to serve him. Though Okichi's story is historically less important, her name remains in the mind of the Japanese people as a victim of the early period of Japan's encounter with the Western world.

Nowadays, it appears true that Harris needed a nurse to serve him, as he suffered from poor health. On the other hand, the local office of the Shogun government understood that Harris needed a mistress and picked up a popular geisha Okichi and sent her to Harris. It is not sure how long she served Harris. A source indicates that she served only three days in May 1857. - Contradictory to the explanation on the milk monument However, there are people who believe that she served till the closure of the American consulate as local mistress. Another people believe that she was sent to Harris by the Shogunate as a spy.

This red wine glass, now kept in Hofukuji, is said to have been used by Harris and Okichi.

She was not allowed to tell the truth and secluded from the society as "Toujin" (mistress of a foreigner), though she was not a mistress like "Chocho-san".

Anyhow, becoming a mistress of Western men was regarded as shame and Kichi was despised as "Toujin". The disdain and prejudice of the society disturbed her seriously and she gradually indulged in alcohol. She could not live a peaceful family life with her beloved Tsurumatsu. She ruined a restaurant presented by a sympathetic patron and could not run a hair salon in Shimoda due to the disdain of local people. In her 40s, Kichi became homeless and killed herself by jumping into the Inouzawa River.

Toujin Okichi became a heroin of popular novels and her stories were staged many times. Though the truth still remains a mystery, her story was interpreted in various ways and exploited as a tourist attraction.