Jujiro Wada – Legendary Japanese Northern Pioneer

Introducing Jujiro Wada – Legendary Northern Pioneer

Student of the North – Northern Pioneer - Arctic Whaler – Pioneer King Musher – Seward-Iditarod Trailblazer – Champion Marathoner – Trapper – Trader – Chena Fairbanks Co-Founder – Lodge Cook – Gold Rush Chronicler  – Explorer -Prospector – Miner – Surveyor – Mapper  - Emeritus Lecturer -

Jujiro Wada was born in 1875 in a small town called Komatsu-cho in the Ehime Prefecture of Shikoku Island in western Japan and he passed away in 1937 in a small hospital in San Diego, California.  Jujiro Wada’s picture at age 60 belies the exciting life he lived, and his legendary northern adventures trails, over 40,000 miles traveled, at the turn of the century Alaska and Northern Canada Territorial days.  The Jujiro Wada stories will find him first in the Arctic, as student, then whaler, hunter, first responder, to making his name as an early Alaska prospector,  chronicler of the Tanana Gold Rush, co-founder of Chena / Fairbanks, and commemorated with today’s Yukon Quest Race, surveyor and mapper, mining assessor,  and trailblazer of the Seward to Iditarod Country Trail.

Reintroduction of Legendary Northern Pioneer – Jujiro Wada. Today, Jujiro Wada, a legendary northern pioneer personality in his turn of the century era, is not widely known of,  with “thin” present day recognition.  Once reintroduced, all believe Jujiro Wada should be considered a true adventurer and entrepreneuer icon of Alaska’s and Canada’s turn of the century pioneer-period. The 3Country Jujiro Wada website is a global archive portal to historical records and publications, with links to eClassroom Northern Pioneer History curriculums,  essay competition and commemoration events, in the 3 Countries, for the reintroduction of Legendary Northern Pioneer – Jujiro Wada.

Beginning with this August introduction Chapter, one of the eight new Chapters of Jujiro’s Chronicles will be posted each month, and provide reference sources for  web visitors and participants in the Jujiro Wada eClassroom – Invitational International Students   – Northern Pioneer History Essay Competition – to be announced on September 15, 2011 and the Northern Pioneer History IS Essay finalists announced in March, 2012, and the Northern Pioneer History IS Essay Awards will be held in Seward, Alaska, during the August 2012 – Seward’s Founders Day Celebration and unveiling of the Seward – Iditarod Trail Monument located on the Alaska Sea Life Center campus.

Now, for short introduction from the Chapter of Jujiro’s Chronicles – Northern Trailblazer:

Young Jujiro Dreamed for Harvard,  But, Fate Begins Instead With Jujiro attending the University of Life – Northern Adventure Journey

Jujiro started working in a paper factory when he was 12 or 13 and told his friends that his dream was to go America and make it big.  In 1891, at the age of 16 he went to Kobe, Japan, where he worked until his co-workers helped him stow away in a large tea box on a freighter headed for San Francisco. A deckhand on the freighter fed him during the voyage across the ocean.

Young Jujiro’s Great Education Begins in the Arctic

Upon Wada’s arrival in San Francisco, he spent several weeks looking for work and the story goes that he went to a bar, was drugged and woke up the next morning on a whaling ship headed for the Arctic. He worked for Captain H.H. Norwood as a cabin boy for three years. The Captain reportedly taught him English and to read and write.

(Links to Captain H.H. Norwood)

http://skagwayfolklore.blogspot.com/2011/06/henry-havelock-norwood.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=clESAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA233&lpg=PA233&dq=Captain+H.H.+Norwood&source=bl&ots=ULDfzK8imU&sig=0oHU4AEYfbtxxiYL2bbHUfwRwE0&hl=en&ei=yfaoTuC0C8O0iQKAxcHPBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Captain%20H.H.%20Norwood&f=false

In 1896 at the age of 21 he returned to Japan, but this one time, with the money he had saved from working (hunting, trading furs, driving dogsleds, etc.) and gave it to his mother, and thereafter regularly sent her money.

Jujiro stayed with his mother and visited with friends for 3 months,  then went back on to his northern trail, returning to Point Barrow where he worked as a cook in the summer of 1897 on the supply vessel Jenny.  It was his Arctic skills that later helped save the Arctic whaler ships trapped in ice.

Along with so many natural talents, in the Arctic Wada also gained knowledge about navigation which would serve him well in his later adventures.  Jujiro was often put off on the shore to live with the Arctic Inuit and Inuipit, learning their language, culture and Arctic skills.

Wada, the adventurous and entrepreneur person he was, also grew skilled at trapping and trading furs, surveying and mapping, prospecting and assessing mining finds, and traveled thousands of miles carrying the US mail.

Watch for the Next Chapter Post from the Jujiro Wada – Northern Trailblazer:  The Days of the Meiji Samurai’s Son

On July 21. 2011, 10 Japanese LABO Youth Delegates arrived from Japan  at Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport accompanied with their Japan LABO Leader Ms Hiromi
Iizawa.  They were met by their Alaska Host youth and families, primarily from Palmer, Anchorage, Eagle River and Kenai Soldotna.

LABO - 4H Students Greeted at Anchorage Airport

Participating Alaska LABO leaders and UAF faculty included Jill Holmgrin (Alaska LABO Coordinator) and Marianne Kerr and Tony Nakazawa with the AnchorageCES/ 4H program.  After a brief orientation program at UAA, the Japanese LABO Delegates will go with their host families to spend the next month learning about Alaska stories and legends and experience Alaska’s wonderful wildlife and mountains.  In the picture you will notice (front and center) Jim Sinnett of the the Alaska Jujiro Wada Memorial Association who, along with the City of Seward, Alaska, is helping to sponsor the youth delegate visit and who is also encouraging the Japan youths to take back to Japan and share their Alaska story with others in Japan.

At the end of their one month visit to Alaska, the Japan youth delegates and their Alaska youth hosts will present a public program on August 18 free to the public.  More information on this will follow or contact Tony Nakazawa at 907-460-0825 or atnakazawa@alaska.edu

The goals of the Alaska 4-H Exchange program are to provide Alaskan youth with opportunities for international friendship and to develop a global perspective.

Forming a Rural Alaska Visitors Enhancement Network -  “Shared Services Marketing” Cooperative Association: The Alaska JujiroWada Memorial Association and Alaska Travel HOST Tours – IT HOST Certification Program, are supporting the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, and Alaska’s rural communities  working together to develop “cooperative approaches” to enhance and encourage cultural-heritage and historical-event based tourism opportunities among interested rural communities and related rural community development organizations and interests.

One idea, of several under discussion, is the formation of a “rural tourism shared services marketing cooperative association (co-op),” focused, which the AJWMA is exploring, as one example, on the Northern Adventure Trails of Legendary  (Alaska – Canada) Northern Pioneer - Jujiro Wada, and his special stories of friendship and living among Alaska’s and Canada’s Native peoples.

The shared services cooperative effort would be to enhance and encourage cultural heritage tours and events  –  culturally and place-based tailored specific to each of the participating co-op rural communities and ”sister cities”  – marketing to travelers both to and from Japan, Alaska and Canada and beyond.

An introductory on-line meeting is planned for fall 2011, to learn more about “shared services” cooperative for small and rural – travel / tourism businesses.

For More Information Contact: UAF Cooperative Extension Service - Anchorage Outreach Office: Professor Anthony Nakazawa at: fnatn@hotmail.com or   atnakazawa@alaska.edu

Mayor Willard Dunham, City of Seward, Alaska, responded to the invitation of the Japan Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, and the message from Mr. Mikio.

“Thank you for the information Mikio Ueoka.  I will look forward to hearing more on the things working with the Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, and the (Prefecture’s) Governor and Mayor (of Matsuyama city).

I have asked our (Seward) Vice Mayor, Jean Bardarson too attend a meeting in San Francisco this month on the topic of visitors from Japan.  The invite came from our meeting in Washington D.C. this spring with the Director of Tourism and Industry for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Helen Marano.

We talked about what we are trying to do with the establishment of our Jujiro Wada program and our (commemoration) ceremony done last Sept Labor Day in Seward, and with all your help and Skype hook-ups with Canada and Japan programs and events.

We will keep you advised of our progress.  I wish I could spend more time with attending the many events the committee has going, but this has been a very busy time here in Seward.     Until the next time.”

Sincerely, Willard E. Dunham, Mayor  // City of Seward   5/7/11

Jujiro Webmaster Message:   PLEASE CLICK ON THE GLOBAL LINK TO THE CITY OF SEWARD www.cityofseward.us/ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:  www.seward.com

From Link to Seward News:  Seward News story publication:  June 8, 2011

Seward Library and Museum supporters are happily planning a ground breaking ceremony for the new $10.3 million Seward Community Library Museum slated for completion by September 2012. “We’ve made it over so many hurdles and worked so hard at fund-raising,” says Building Committee President Keith Campbell, “All our volunteers are really tickled to reach this milestone and we’re inviting the world to come and celebrate it with us.”

The ground breaking ceremony, on Wednesday, June 8 will take place at 5 p.m. at the new Library Museum building site, 6th Ave. and Jefferson St. Featured speakers include co-founder and Inaugural Iditarod racer Dan Seavey who is also a member of the Resurrection Bay Historical Society; former Seward Mayor Edgar Blatchford, Seward Mayor Willard Dunham; City Manager Phillip Oates; Library Museum Building Committee Chairperson Keith Campbell, and former Seward newspaper owner Bev Dunham. The ground breaking ceremony will feature a special flower planting activity for attending children and refreshments will be served afterwards in the Library basement. Corporate sponsor for the ground breaking is Petro Marine Services.