was a Japanese castaway originally from the area of Onoura near Mihama, on the west coast of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture. Biography Otokichi was a 14-year-old crew member on a rice transport ship bound for Edo, the Hojunmaru (宝順丸), 15 meters in length with a cargo of 150 tons and a crew of 14. The ship left on November 3, 1832, but was caught in a storm and blown off-course far out in the Pacific Ocean. Drift to America The ship, without a mast or a rudder, wa… (More on Otokichi)