"o" -----------as in, O chit that was close. C what I did there... edit: Did you hear the part where he said the Japanese called him, "Renardo MacDonardo"? Hilarious. They got the "o" in the wrong place.
Context on his family background: Ranald MacDonald was half Scottish, half Chinook. His mother was Koale'xoa (or Princess Sunday), a daughter of the Chinook leader. His father was Archibald Mcdonald, a fur trader of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Oh man, imagine being half scottish and half apache. that would been one hell of an aggressive attack helicopter. Thank god he was just a friendly chinook!
The fact that 19th century japanese men said "shiver me timbers" possibly unironically, is one of the few things to make me genuinely laugh in a while lmao.
13:28 “They cannot pronounce, except very imperfectly, the letter “L”. They pronounce it “R”. “ 173 years later, here is a poor Japanese office worker (me) who is still struggling to pronounce the word “irrelevant” correctly. 😌
@@samurguy9906 Thank you for saying that! 🙂 It’s extremely difficult for me to pronounce words like “irrelevant”, “relieve”, “parallel”, etc. I’m certain that a random guy who lived somewhere in the British isles hundreds years ago invented the word “irrelevant” just to torture Japanese people. 😮
@@rukathehamsteratwork8896 I hear that the Germans feel the same way about the word "squirrel." And hey, if it makes you feel any better, the りゅ、りょ sounds are a nightmare to me. Always comes out as りよ when I do it; just can't get 'em to flow right.
@@rukathehamsteratwork8896 I read once that American sentries in the pacific theater of ww2 would use words like “lollapalooza” as the password for exactly that reason
Wellll him and every tourist in history 😅 clearly Disney World has only ever been visited by this rare breed… it’s amazing they’ve been able to stay open 😆
@@benbowland 1) you could die in traffic 2) Disney has a massive body count, but Disney drags the people off of it’s property before letting paramedics get involved so technically “noone has ever died there” all of those old people walking around in the hot florida sun being dragged around by screaming children have somehow managed to avoid having even one heart attack or aneurysm in 80 years… seems legit.
@@samurguy9906 Yeah. It wasn’t all. In Gulliver’s travel written by Jonathon Swift, who was himself a firm Protestant, derided Protestants like the Dutch who stepped on Christian images and his main character who ends up in Japan refuses to do so. It’s very satirical and typical Jonathon swift. His main character is an Englishman, but he pretends to be Dutch while in Japan and when he refuses to step on a crucifix, the Japanese emperor begins to doubt that he’s a “Hollander” and thinks he might actually be a “Christian.” The Japanese emperor then promises that he will keep his refusal to step on a crucifix a secret so that his fellow Dutchmen don’t cut his throat for it. *This interpreter was a person employed to transact affairs with the Hollanders. He soon conjectured, by my countenance, that I was a European, and therefore repeated his majesty’s commands in Low Dutch, which he spoke perfectly well. I answered, as I had before determined, “that I was a Dutch merchant, shipwrecked in a very remote country, whence I had travelled by sea and land to Luggnagg, and then took shipping for Japan; where I knew my countrymen often traded, and with some of these I hoped to get an opportunity of returning into Europe: I therefore most humbly entreated his royal favour, to give order that I should be conducted in safety to Nangasac.” To this I added another petition, “that for the sake of my patron the king of Luggnagg, his majesty would condescend to excuse my performing the ceremony imposed on my countrymen, of trampling upon the crucifix, because I had been thrown into his kingdom by my misfortunes, without any intention of trading.” When this latter petition was interpreted to the Emperor, he seemed a little surprised; and said, “he believed I was the first of my countrymen who ever made any scruple in this point; and that he began to doubt, whether I was a real Hollander, or not; but rather suspected I must be a Christian. However, for the reasons I had offered, but chiefly to gratify the king of Luggnagg by an uncommon mark of his favour, he would comply with the singularity of my humour; but the affair must be managed with dexterity, and his officers should be commanded to let me pass, as it were by forgetfulness. For he assured me, that if the secret should be discovered by my countrymen the Dutch, they would cut my throat in the voyage.” I returned my thanks, by the interpreter, for so unusual a favour; and some troops being at that time on their march to Nangasac, the commanding officer had orders to convey me safe thither, with particular instructions about the business of the crucifix.*
It's crazy he mentioned that the Ainu bear resemblance to Pacific Northwest American Natives because I've always thought Ainu and Pacific Northwest art have striking similarities.
@@zeitgeistx5239 no part of my comment displays a lack of that understanding. If you don't think it's amazing they potentially preserved an art style on two continents, that's your problem
These first hand narrated accounts of Japanese-Western contact clearly show the inherent good within people throughout time. Voices of the Past channel are doing a great job of producing a historical series that promotes optimism in humanity. It's just a pity UA-cam is likely demonetising them like they've been doing to all videos about history.
@DustMaster 2: Return Of Flex 🤨 You obviously don't know that most history channels on YT have been demonetised for inexplicable reasons? - I've never seen an advert run run on a Voices of the Past vid. A channel with 1 million subscribers Ouch! - > ua-cam.com/video/t4VRkE01mi4/v-deo.html
@DustMaster 2: Return Of Flex sorry about that- I'm not formally trained in Emoji usage. So why exactly are your eyes rolling? There must be thousands of people viewing this comment thread waiting on baited breath for a stunning conclusion to this mystery
Pass the "Grog yes" please. Actually there's a similar phenomenon in Thailand where the "bill" at a restaurant is referred to as the "The Check Please".
@@TheInfidel_SlavaUA But it's probably not completely normal English when a waitress hands you a piece of paper that she calls "the check please". Not sure, though.
This is such a hidden gem of a channel. Thank you for your work in getting these human stories out there. Really brings life to history that we seldom experienced in school.
@@MogofWar or perhaps some cultures aren't so obsessed with bollocks and really would say 'heart'- as in the original derivation of the word 'courage'
@@newgabe09 Nah! Anthropologists have pretty much determined veneration of the testes to be a cultural universal. . . I know, that response was pedantic, but so was yours... And it also betrays a SEVERE IGNORANCE OF JAPANESE CULTURE... look up "Tanuki" if you catch my drift. TL;DR: Having balls and having heart are synonymous expressions. Deal with it.
What an absolutely fascinating story. The sheer perverse bravery it must have taken for MacDonald to deliberately strand himself in a country best known for executing foreigners, just to see what it was really like is bizarrely inspirational. As is the fact he decided to trust his life to human kindness. Wikipedia says that one of the men he taught English to became the chief interpreter in the Japanese negotiations with Commodore Perry that resulted in Japan ending its isolation. Also, apparently Japan made a huge impact on him, to the extent that when he died decades later, his last words were 'Sayonara, my dear, sayonara'.
I expect the primary reason was due Ranald obviously being an educated man, of sorts, as indicated by his collection of books which the Japanese officials doted over. He was valuable in that they could learn about the outside world from him. His being tasked with training interpreters is a perfect example.
Thats because northern Japan at that time was somewhat loose in terms of its isolation policy. The northern Japanese domains at that time would often disobey rules from the shogunate and trade among neighboring tribes and with Russia secretly. The Ainu would often become the mediator for trading.
I simply had to stop the video midway to remark that this tale has been wonderfully retold and the photos accompanying are timeless windows to a past that most of us have unknown. Thank you for your work bringing this to us to hear, reflect and quite possibly retell ourselves.
The Japanese governor probably didn't want to waste his chance to learn from a foreigner over a breach of court etiquette. He could still save face by dismissing it as a foreigner's ignorance.
Samuel Wells Williams, a member of Perry's second visit noted in 1854: A new and superior interpreter came with Saborosuke, named Moriyama Yenosuke ... He speaks English well enough to render any other interpreter unnecessary, and this will assist our intercourse greatly. He ... asked if Ronald McDonald (sic) was well, or if we knew him. ... giving us all a good impression of his education and breeding. I think it's sweet he asked about him years later
Makes a body wonder if the Radical Japanese who say "They gave us two, we will give them two thousand" are not really expressing how Japanese feel about the US.
Though he would introduce Ronald to the art of the hambagō suteaki Wich he would betray by putting them between two buns and adding cheese inventing the cheeseburger
It sounds like he was served a thin fish stew, made with four kinds of rice. He nearly went insane trying to find it at home but they could never get the spices right.
I can only speculate as to what they actually said at the time, but there are a couple of phrases in Japanese (首になる and 傘の台が飛ぶ) which would literally translate as being decapitated but are used as an expression meaning to be fired. Assuming those expressions existed back then, I'd like to think that's what they meant.
@@ValkisCalmor It's not exceptionally common, but I think we have that in English as well. Like, someone could say "his head's on the chopping block" to suggest someone is at risk of being fired. Also, "terminated" could be taken the wrong way. Hell, "fired" could mean "set on fire."
@@Mythraen When I was four I heard my dad tell my mom in dire tones that he had been "fired" that day, and could tell it was bad news. My 4 year old brain put 2 and 2 together: my dad had been set on fire as punishment for something, how painful. Very quick recovery, though.
One of the first books I read at Dine College, a Navajo Community College. Native American in the land of the shogun : Ranald MacDonald and the opening of Japan
I wonder if this was litteral or actually meant that he was just dismissed. “To cut the head” in Japanese means to fire a person, at least in modern Japanese.
@@kedbreak136 They killed him. Back then a Lord's honor and reputation were at stake. He was responsible to ensure the Shoguns rules were being enforced. And someone who violated the rules was made an example to all others. Because the rules/laws of a dictator is grounded in obedience and fear. Without obedience he is just another man and can be replaced/killed.
@@paulstone3590 The issue with that would be there's no mention of public commotion. A servant being executed is not just held within the castle ground, but also open to the public. Furthermore, there is an expression that says "Kubi ni Naru" (首になる) which could either mean "be beheaded" or "be dismissed". With these in mind, I assume that is a figurative speech.
@@TheDeisasoriThe earliest known recorded use of one of the variants of this phrase for getting fired instead of a more literal sense was in 1802, so chances are good that's what they meant.
Fumiko Kaneko (金子 文子) once wrote: "No amount of struggling for an education is going to help one get ahead in this world. And what does it mean to get ahead anyway? is there any more worthless lot than the so-called great people of this world? What is so admirable about being looked up to by others? I do not live for other. What I had to achieve was my own freedom, my own satisfaction. I had to be myself"
By each other, too. Just like humans have been doing forever. People love to say this kind of thing because they think it makes them sound compassionate. You're complicit too, just by using a Google service.
@@screwgoogle4993 it's amusing that you assume I'm a liberal or care for Google. On Facebook, i was just arguing about CRT being racist and explaining that race is real and not a Eurocentric anything
Same thing with Bronisław Piłsudski. A Polish exile first sentenced to death by torture by the russian imperiale and łatwe changed to exile in the east. He also came across Ainu first. Poles were also conquered and displaced
@@Strawhalo Africans were not an exception to this. Egypt was subjugating people in Africa and the Middle East long before Europe was even a concept. The Moors conquered Spain. African slaves in the Transatlantic Slave Trade were prisoners of war and criminals sold to Europeans by other Africans. Bantu settlers displaced the Khoisan in southern Africa 1,000 years before any Europeans reached the region. The Rwanda Genocide. The countless wars still being waged in Africa as we speak. Need I go on?
Funny how he notices the simularities between the Ainu and Pacific Northwest natives since modern genetics show that they are closely related and share the same anestors to all Native Americans, though culturally centuries apart.
That division goes back roughly 30,000 years in Siberia so it's not like they are closely related man even the Sami people of modern day northern Scandinavia are from that line
Whoever runs this channel I want to say that every time you upload you make my day. Your videos are always more interesting than the last and I hope your channel continues to grow! No one does it like you! thank you!
The "shiver me timbers" anecdote makes me wonder if there are similar phrases in Japanese where if you asked someone to explain them they'd be all "actually I have no idea, we just say that, nobody seems to know why".
Wow, this was beautiful. I wasn't expecting it to end with the arrival of the US. That was an amazing experience to hear from an outsider within a closed off nation. Who ever the VA was props, this was a great video all around.
I love how these sorts of people back then write when recording their experiences. It's like they didn't touch pen to paper unless they had something really good to say. It's almost like reading poetry.
Reflective of the different standards in education. Practically anything you read that makes use of proper grammar will sound like poetry these days. Thank our shockingly poor education system and so called "higher education". Then again, it's to be expected when universities spend more time teaching kids that they're victims, that there are unlimited genders, and to hate all men, anyone with white skin, and anyone straight... Just saw some schools trying to work drag queen courses into their curriculum. The fall of empires indeed. Lol
I mean he did say him and the captain were "close friends" and he was also close with one of his interpreters and enjoyed to company of men sooo... I thought perhaps he is one of us.
@@kirinschlabitz4085 People when someone in history had male best friend and liked hanging out with people with the same gender as them: Oh they must be gay
@@creativepop8196 I’m not saying people of the same sex can’t be friends lol I just said it was a possibility they were gay or queer in some way? I think it’s rather silly to always assume people are straight or always assume they are gay given the range of orientations. I was mostly joking but also slightly hopeful for some representation.
Thank you once again for your outstanding productions. With out a doubt some of the very best content online! One tiny, loving, albeit pedantic comment. Et cetera with a T, not Ek/Ex cetera. 💜💜💜💜💜💜😀🙏🖖😽
So interesting to see this mans story half chinook man who is so well educated talking about Japan I wish he had more of a traditional indigenous comparison or talked to them more about such things but damn it’s so beautiful story.
He's 1/2 weeb because of his dad ; his other half is PNW native american which means hes related to the Ainu. This account doesn't state it . But he actually met a crew of Japanese shipwrecks when he was a kid in British Colombia, he noticed that they looked a lot like his own native american people so he learned japanese from them. This trip was him trying to confirm the relation to the Ainu and the Native Americans.
@@GrigRP You do realize this channel is known for narration right? Just because she's interested in the story that was provided in this video doesn't mean she didn't watch it.
Its a shame we dont hear anything about this man, thx to this channel we hear the accounts of many people not taught in school. This man helped paved the way for trade with Japan!
Albeit the man was half white & a Christian, back then, Native men were kind of expected to stand strong, disregard discomfort & deal with the consequences of their actions. I kind of think, by his plan & that he refused allowing anyone else to come with him, that he kind of expected that he would die trying to do this, but hoped he would be pleasantly surprised.
16:45 "I believe they would suffer annihilation, rather than surrender in defense of their country" his belief would be somewhat proven correct less than 100 years later
@@MrScigeek101 Hirohito the war criminal wanted to save his own skin. If he had been a fanatic they would have gone down fighting and tens of millions more Japanese would have been killed and millions of Allied soldiers.
@@paulstone3590 well, maybe… however the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings would actually prove that (hypothetically speaking) there would’ve been exponentially more casualties on the Japanese side had they not surrendered after the bombings…
@@marisolamaya159 Yes. There had been more Japanese civilians and military killed in Okinawa and during the island hopping campaign. But the US had used up both of it's atom bombs. And what people don't realize is that the B2 bomber air raids killed a lot more Japanese than the atomic weapons. One raid in Tokyo killed 100k Japanese civilians. But if an invasion had taken place estimates were one million US soldiers would die. And that is something the US public could not stomach.
They also can't pronounce the letter R. Instead the letter Japanese use is somewhere between an R and L this makes it seem to western ears like they pronounce L as R and R as L because our ears hear what we don't expect more.
I mean, it is different than the racial stereotype of today. The thing is that the pronounciation in japanese doesn't include an exact parallel to the L, thus they had no practice of pronouncing it the way it is pronounced in english. This happens with other languages too, I'll give an example I've seen by my own account: I speak spanish, we have a particular pronounciation of the letter J, this pronounciation doesn't exist in Italian, when I went to Italy to visit family, I noticed those who didn't speak spanish had a hard time pronouncing it.
Yep, it's less a matter of "not being able to produce the sound" and more the fact that they struggle to create the sound consistenly more than one time, since they never had to use it integrated in language. A Chinese friend had a rough time with the spanish "R" but if you asked him to imite a chainsaw he managed to do it.
MacDonald telling his friend about his idea: "ok so you know how I'm obsessed with Japan" "What is that again?" "Japan, that far away land across the pacific ocean I'm always talking about" "Oh no, here we go. Look, I'd love to chat about it but me and Elizabeth are going to the tavern in like 30 minutes and I gotta get ready" "No, no listen! I'm gonna go there!" "Sure, you've said that a million times. Plus, if I remember correctly from your ramblings, you said it was closed off from us Westerners." "Yeah well I was thinking and I came up with a plan to get around that. I'm gonna pretend to be a castaway and out of their kindness they'll take me in" "you're gonna go on a dingy..." "yes." "...float on over...." "yes." "...and hope they let you in." "precisely." "Yeah, look, I'm gonna go to the tavern and drink a whole bunch so I can forget you even said that." "then I guess this is Sayonara, friend." "wait is that Japanese? How do you know that?" "wait how do you know that." "um."
ur using weeb like 12 year olds use simp when someone calls a girl pretty. this man literally risked his life to explore a closed off hostile foreign land to learn about it. and his name was Ronald Macdonald
i, Ranald MacDonald, of fair and generous disposition, proceeded to give this foreigner a sandwich to which he said "oishii". It was then I knew my fortunes lay in spreading the knowledge of this tasty concoction of meat, bread, onions, pickles, and a sauce the man called "spe xial".
That line about how the Japanese would face anihilation rather than surrender was spooky as fuck. I had to rewind it and listen again.. next level real life foreshadowing
"I was *this* close to being the mascot for a massive fast food chain..."
-Ranald MacDonald
I see you've never heard the legend of the first thanksgiving corn haggis
"o" -----------as in, O chit that was close. C what I did there...
edit: Did you hear the part where he said the Japanese called him, "Renardo MacDonardo"? Hilarious. They got the "o" in the wrong place.
really unfortunate name, but an epic life
Maybe that's why the love French frys
Probly just vitimin difencincy
Context on his family background: Ranald MacDonald was half Scottish, half Chinook. His mother was Koale'xoa (or Princess Sunday), a daughter of the Chinook leader. His father was Archibald Mcdonald, a fur trader of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Thank you.
his legacy went on to inspire the creation of a burger chain mascot clown that brought joy and hope to billions
Oh man, imagine being half scottish and half apache. that would been one hell of an aggressive attack helicopter. Thank god he was just a friendly chinook!
So you mean he was half salmon? Or half wind? Both are equally good ways to cross the ocean to Japan!
Ranald's brother Ronald was a real jerk, always playing with food like an ill-mannered toddler. Totally true story 🥴😁
The fact that 19th century japanese men said "shiver me timbers" possibly unironically, is one of the few things to make me genuinely laugh in a while lmao.
This saddens me, whoever you are I wish we were acquainted so you could have a chance to smile more. Keep your head up man, magic is alive.
しべるみちむべるす
@@velazquezarmouries sir that is not proper Japanese
It's even better. Imagine a Japanese man coming up to you and saying "I would like to inquire just exactly how timbers are shivered".
Sir, this is a Wendy's
13:28 “They cannot pronounce, except very imperfectly, the letter “L”. They pronounce it “R”. “
173 years later, here is a poor Japanese office worker (me) who is still struggling to pronounce the word “irrelevant” correctly. 😌
As a monolingual American, I find it impressive you can write in another language so well, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.
@@samurguy9906
Thank you for saying that! 🙂
It’s extremely difficult for me to pronounce words like “irrelevant”, “relieve”, “parallel”, etc.
I’m certain that a random guy who lived somewhere in the British isles hundreds years ago invented the word “irrelevant” just to torture Japanese people. 😮
@@rukathehamsteratwork8896 I hear that the Germans feel the same way about the word "squirrel." And hey, if it makes you feel any better, the りゅ、りょ sounds are a nightmare to me. Always comes out as りよ when I do it; just can't get 'em to flow right.
@@Memphismastermind
I hadn’t even imagined that the pronunciation of りゅ and りょ could be that difficult until you pointed it out ! 😮 Thank you. 🙂
@@rukathehamsteratwork8896 I read once that American sentries in the pacific theater of ww2 would use words like “lollapalooza” as the password for exactly that reason
Most explorers go for profit, religion, on orders, or by accident. This guy risked his life for no reason other than curiosity. A true rarity.
Wellll him and every tourist in history 😅 clearly Disney World has only ever been visited by this rare breed… it’s amazing they’ve been able to stay open 😆
@@jerkfudgewater147 😂😂
Tbf some people have more than one motivation. But I agree with you.
@@jerkfudgewater147 As if you risk your life going to Disneyworld lmao (ignoring covid)
@@benbowland 1) you could die in traffic 2) Disney has a massive body count, but Disney drags the people off of it’s property before letting paramedics get involved so technically “noone has ever died there” all of those old people walking around in the hot florida sun being dragged around by screaming children have somehow managed to avoid having even one heart attack or aneurysm in 80 years… seems legit.
"I being a protestant, unhesitatingly did so."
Dang! Shots fired!
And then he just stares at the governor while everyone bows.
This guy is something.
Protestants don’t believe in “graven images”. So he would have no problem stepping on a Catholic icon.
@@Ditka-89 depends on the Protestant denomination.
@@samurguy9906
Yeah. It wasn’t all. In Gulliver’s travel written by Jonathon Swift, who was himself a firm Protestant, derided Protestants like the Dutch who stepped on Christian images and his main character who ends up in Japan refuses to do so. It’s very satirical and typical Jonathon swift. His main character is an Englishman, but he pretends to be Dutch while in Japan and when he refuses to step on a crucifix, the Japanese emperor begins to doubt that he’s a “Hollander” and thinks he might actually be a “Christian.” The Japanese emperor then promises that he will keep his refusal to step on a crucifix a secret so that his fellow Dutchmen don’t cut his throat for it.
*This interpreter was a person employed to transact affairs with the Hollanders. He soon conjectured, by my countenance, that I was a European, and therefore repeated his majesty’s commands in Low Dutch, which he spoke perfectly well. I answered, as I had before determined, “that I was a Dutch merchant, shipwrecked in a very remote country, whence I had travelled by sea and land to Luggnagg, and then took shipping for Japan; where I knew my countrymen often traded, and with some of these I hoped to get an opportunity of returning into Europe: I therefore most humbly entreated his royal favour, to give order that I should be conducted in safety to Nangasac.” To this I added another petition, “that for the sake of my patron the king of Luggnagg, his majesty would condescend to excuse my performing the ceremony imposed on my countrymen, of trampling upon the crucifix, because I had been thrown into his kingdom by my misfortunes, without any intention of trading.” When this latter petition was interpreted to the Emperor, he seemed a little surprised; and said, “he believed I was the first of my countrymen who ever made any scruple in this point; and that he began to doubt, whether I was a real Hollander, or not; but rather suspected I must be a Christian. However, for the reasons I had offered, but chiefly to gratify the king of Luggnagg by an uncommon mark of his favour, he would comply with the singularity of my humour; but the affair must be managed with dexterity, and his officers should be commanded to let me pass, as it were by forgetfulness. For he assured me, that if the secret should be discovered by my countrymen the Dutch, they would cut my throat in the voyage.” I returned my thanks, by the interpreter, for so unusual a favour; and some troops being at that time on their march to Nangasac, the commanding officer had orders to convey me safe thither, with particular instructions about the business of the crucifix.*
@@Ditka-89 Protestants stepping on an icon that depicts Christ because they have some petty beef with the Virgin Mary
@@scouter1789 they don’t have a “petty beef” with Mary. They just dispute the degree of honor given to her.
Well I hope this guy had fun clowning around over there
Lol
You didn't even watch the full video did you lol
@@Ennocb I’m just making fun of the name - Ronald McDonald is a clown
@@ChessedGamon Fair enough!
He was chasing the Ham Burglar across the Pacific.
It's crazy he mentioned that the Ainu bear resemblance to Pacific Northwest American Natives because I've always thought Ainu and Pacific Northwest art have striking similarities.
It's called the Bering landbridge, you didn't pay attention in grade school.
@@zeitgeistx5239 no part of my comment displays a lack of that understanding. If you don't think it's amazing they potentially preserved an art style on two continents, that's your problem
Funny, Ainu have been described as looking more European than what one thinks of when thinking of Japanese people.
@@zeitgeistx5239 chill the fuck out, jeez
Agreed
These first hand narrated accounts of Japanese-Western contact clearly show the inherent good within people throughout time.
Voices of the Past channel are doing a great job of producing a historical series that promotes optimism in humanity. It's just a pity UA-cam is likely demonetising them like they've been doing to all videos about history.
@DustMaster 2: Return Of Flex 🤨 You obviously don't know that most history channels on YT have been demonetised for inexplicable reasons? - I've never seen an advert run run on a Voices of the Past vid. A channel with 1 million subscribers Ouch! - > ua-cam.com/video/t4VRkE01mi4/v-deo.html
@DustMaster 2: Return Of Flex 🙄 ok now I'm using a confused emoji. You got me
@DustMaster 2: Return Of Flex sorry about that- I'm not formally trained in Emoji usage. So why exactly are your eyes rolling? There must be thousands of people viewing this comment thread waiting on baited breath for a stunning conclusion to this mystery
@DustMaster 2: Return Of Flex yea, so tell.
Inherent good within people? You did hear the part about the guy who got executed just for introducing his wife to the foreigner, right?
The idea that the first Native American weeb was a man named Ranald MacDonald and we’re NOT being trolled feels wrong somehow.
He was half Scottish, hence the unfitting name 😂
I think he might be the Lord of the Weebs!
My mom's Family is Native American! You wouldn't know by my Name but if you saw me in person you would be like WTF hahaha
@@jonmacdonald5345 That’s amazing! What state are you from if you mind me asking?
@@NorthSon I live in Cali but my tribes are from Midwest Choctaw and Blackfoot! Where do you call home?
Pass the "Grog yes" please.
Actually there's a similar phenomenon in Thailand where the "bill" at a restaurant is referred to as the "The Check Please".
"Grog yes"
@@TheInfidel_SlavaUA But it's probably not completely normal English when a waitress hands you a piece of paper that she calls "the check please". Not sure, though.
This is such a hidden gem of a channel. Thank you for your work in getting these human stories out there. Really brings life to history that we seldom experienced in school.
"these guys execute castaways all the time, so my game plan is to pretend to be a castaway, that way they won't kill me"
~Ronard McDonard
It's called having huge cajones... what the governor probably really complimented him on having.
@@MogofWar I assume he was well aware of that lol
@@MogofWar or perhaps some cultures aren't so obsessed with bollocks and really would say 'heart'- as in the original derivation of the word 'courage'
@@newgabe09 Nah! Anthropologists have pretty much determined veneration of the testes to be a cultural universal. . . I know, that response was pedantic, but so was yours... And it also betrays a SEVERE IGNORANCE OF JAPANESE CULTURE... look up "Tanuki" if you catch my drift.
TL;DR: Having balls and having heart are synonymous expressions. Deal with it.
@@newgabe09 Better get Will in here, somebody can't take a joke.
“A sailor’s feelings are always warm and true.”
That’s a beautiful scene.
Accept when he wants sex for money. That's how they got "lady's fever".
Not when they’ve been aboard for two years and get some dolphins
"And on the second day, my most gracious host showed me his Manga collection. 'Twas then I knew, life would never be the same!"
'Never in my wildest dreams I imagined leaving the Japans as an otaky', bows head in shame.
What an absolutely fascinating story. The sheer perverse bravery it must have taken for MacDonald to deliberately strand himself in a country best known for executing foreigners, just to see what it was really like is bizarrely inspirational. As is the fact he decided to trust his life to human kindness. Wikipedia says that one of the men he taught English to became the chief interpreter in the Japanese negotiations with Commodore Perry that resulted in Japan ending its isolation. Also, apparently Japan made a huge impact on him, to the extent that when he died decades later, his last words were 'Sayonara, my dear, sayonara'.
I can't help but wonder if it was being first encountered by some Ainu rather than "Japanese proper" that saved this fella's life. . .
That was deff the reason.
I expect the primary reason was due Ranald obviously being an educated man, of sorts, as indicated by his collection of books which the Japanese officials doted over. He was valuable in that they could learn about the outside world from him. His being tasked with training interpreters is a perfect example.
tbh the government officials seemed to like him and thought him useful
As long as you didn't come in there with a Bible...
Thats because northern Japan at that time was somewhat loose in terms of its isolation policy. The northern Japanese domains at that time would often disobey rules from the shogunate and trade among neighboring tribes and with Russia secretly. The Ainu would often become the mediator for trading.
I simply had to stop the video midway to remark that this tale has been wonderfully retold and the photos accompanying are timeless windows to a past that most of us have unknown. Thank you for your work bringing this to us to hear, reflect and quite possibly retell ourselves.
Guy had an explorer's heart. Wanted to learn even if the cost was death.
The Japanese governor, upon seeing the narrator not bowing like everyone else was, complimented him on the size of his -balls- heart.
That's how I read it too.
The Japanese governor probably didn't want to waste his chance to learn from a foreigner over a breach of court etiquette. He could still save face by dismissing it as a foreigner's ignorance.
the interpreter just said heart probably, while the governor said balls in japanese 😆
Absolutely amazing
Probably meant heart as in courage rather than heart as in generosity or kindness
Samuel Wells Williams, a member of Perry's second visit noted in 1854:
A new and superior interpreter came with Saborosuke, named Moriyama Yenosuke ... He speaks English well enough to render any other interpreter unnecessary, and this will assist our intercourse greatly. He ... asked if Ronald McDonald (sic) was well, or if we knew him. ... giving us all a good impression of his education and breeding.
I think it's sweet he asked about him years later
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this tidbit when surfing Wikipedia. Super cool.
"They would suffer annihilation, rather than surrender"
Yep, he was right
Makes a body wonder if the Radical Japanese who say "They gave us two, we will give them two thousand" are not really expressing how Japanese feel about the US.
the japanese are still here today after the emperor surrendered.. thus they were not annihilated
However upon facing actual annihilation they surrendered so he was not right.
@@MrScigeek101 it wasn't the annihilation but the horror for the survivors that led to surrender
Talk about foreshadowing
Unfortunately, Ranald’s little brother Ronald would eventually become more famous than him for inventing the Filet o’ Fish.
Holy crap yeah! Damn bro
If his last name was "McDonald" not MacDonald you'd be closer to being right
@@TheSavageJetdiRustySpooner didn’t realize Ronald was a mic. Although he does have red hair.
Foinest of jokes here.
Though he would introduce Ronald to the art of the hambagō suteaki Wich he would betray by putting them between two buns and adding cheese inventing the cheeseburger
It sounds like he was served a thin fish stew, made with four kinds of rice. He nearly went insane trying to find it at home but they could never get the spices right.
"Their obsession with the tentacle worries me greatly."
- Mac, the original weeb (Japan or Death).
@A J where do you think Mac saw the tentacle?
Where does he say that? I think I missed it.
@@samurguy9906 I'm pretty sure he's joking.
I am not entirely uncertain you're joking, but I think it's much less likely.
A true ween wouldn't be worried, but excited by tentacles
Bruh , hes 1/2 weeb. His other 1/2 is literrally related to the ainu. So hes
That poor captain of the guards. He paid a heavy price for entertaining his family
I can only speculate as to what they actually said at the time, but there are a couple of phrases in Japanese (首になる and 傘の台が飛ぶ) which would literally translate as being decapitated but are used as an expression meaning to be fired. Assuming those expressions existed back then, I'd like to think that's what they meant.
@@ValkisCalmor It's not exceptionally common, but I think we have that in English as well.
Like, someone could say "his head's on the chopping block" to suggest someone is at risk of being fired.
Also, "terminated" could be taken the wrong way.
Hell, "fired" could mean "set on fire."
I hope he was just fired
@@ValkisCalmor They did exist, so more likely than not that is what they meant.
@@Mythraen When I was four I heard my dad tell my mom in dire tones that he had been "fired" that day, and could tell it was bad news. My 4 year old brain put 2 and 2 together: my dad had been set on fire as punishment for something, how painful. Very quick recovery, though.
"The Gang Goes to a Closed Japan" starring Mac's great great great grandfather, Native Mac
Even sharks need water
Our boy Mac ain't even remotely interested in the women either.
And his adventure ends with him hopping on a boat with a bunch of -semen- seamen...
@@juliec5151 but his place was called the "lions den." surely a name of such stature has a backstory of epic proportions to justify this namesake?
This comment is gold hahaha.
Is that why modern day Mac carries so much religious guilt ? Because of what his ancestor did ?
He was lucky as a Native American to have encountered the Ainuus, I believe they shared a long forgotten ancestor.
They did not😅😂
Thank-you Voices of the Past for shedding new light on these almost forgotten stories. This one is a real gem.
"Whose appearnce denoted consequence", what a great way of saying someone looks like trouble.
One of the first books I read at Dine College, a Navajo Community College. Native American in the land of the shogun : Ranald MacDonald and the opening of Japan
Felt my heart drop when I heard about the beheading of the guard captain
I wonder if this was litteral or actually meant that he was just dismissed. “To cut the head” in Japanese means to fire a person, at least in modern Japanese.
@@kedbreak136 They killed him. Back then a Lord's honor and reputation were at stake. He was responsible to ensure the Shoguns rules were being enforced. And someone who violated the rules was made an example to all others. Because the rules/laws of a dictator is grounded in obedience and fear. Without obedience he is just another man and can be replaced/killed.
@@paulstone3590 The issue with that would be there's no mention of public commotion. A servant being executed is not just held within the castle ground, but also open to the public. Furthermore, there is an expression that says "Kubi ni Naru" (首になる) which could either mean "be beheaded" or "be dismissed".
With these in mind, I assume that is a figurative speech.
@@TheDeisasoriThe earliest known recorded use of one of the variants of this phrase for getting fired instead of a more literal sense was in 1802, so chances are good that's what they meant.
This channel is pure GOLD 🔥
Hear, hear.
Fumiko Kaneko (金子 文子) once wrote:
"No amount of struggling for an education is going to help one get ahead in this world. And what does it mean to get ahead anyway? is there any more worthless lot than the so-called great people of this world? What is so admirable about being looked up to by others? I do not live for other. What I had to achieve was my own freedom, my own satisfaction. I had to be myself"
would've been better if that was written anonymously
Stop complainijg
Fumiko Kaneko sounds like a bit of an edge-lord.
😌 I like this, it shares my feelings but I could never put it into words so graciously. Maybe that’s the blessing of education
Fumiko sounds like they had a breakdown after studying for 5 hours straight or whatever japanese students go through
There's something fitting that a Native American first came across Ainu, as both were conquered and displaced peoples in their own homelands.
By each other, too. Just like humans have been doing forever. People love to say this kind of thing because they think it makes them sound compassionate. You're complicit too, just by using a Google service.
@@screwgoogle4993 it's amusing that you assume I'm a liberal or care for Google.
On Facebook, i was just arguing about CRT being racist and explaining that race is real and not a Eurocentric anything
No Africans never did this. This is a European thing.
Same thing with Bronisław Piłsudski. A Polish exile first sentenced to death by torture by the russian imperiale and łatwe changed to exile in the east. He also came across Ainu first. Poles were also conquered and displaced
@@Strawhalo Africans were not an exception to this. Egypt was subjugating people in Africa and the Middle East long before Europe was even a concept. The Moors conquered Spain. African slaves in the Transatlantic Slave Trade were prisoners of war and criminals sold to Europeans by other Africans. Bantu settlers displaced the Khoisan in southern Africa 1,000 years before any Europeans reached the region. The Rwanda Genocide. The countless wars still being waged in Africa as we speak. Need I go on?
Funny how he notices the simularities between the Ainu and Pacific Northwest natives since modern genetics show that they are closely related and share the same anestors to all Native Americans, though culturally centuries apart.
That division goes back roughly 30,000 years in Siberia so it's not like they are closely related man even the Sami people of modern day northern Scandinavia are from that line
Wait what im native anerican and found out about the ainu a few years ago this is first time im hearing about this ?
they not that closely related actually. ainu's are an isolated genetic pool now. they're not too closely related even to siberian tribes
*"I'm lovin' it."*
-Ranald Macdonald
"I'm lavin' it."
-Ranald Macdonald
Whoever runs this channel I want to say that every time you upload you make my day. Your videos are always more interesting than the last and I hope your channel continues to grow! No one does it like you! thank you!
The "shiver me timbers" anecdote makes me wonder if there are similar phrases in Japanese where if you asked someone to explain them they'd be all "actually I have no idea, we just say that, nobody seems to know why".
I'd been convinced "Shiver me timbers" was a Warner Brothers effort
"Told to put my foot on it, being a protestant I unhesitatingly did so" Lmao
Based
Heretics. Heathens. Savages.
Protestants hate the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. No surprises there.
@@myrmidonesantipodes6982 Catholic hands wrote this post.
@@TheSonOfDumb yeah Catholic hands wrote the Gospel too you despicable heretic
Can't wait for The Hamburglar's first experience traveling to Korea
Hahahah yes, I'm scrolling through all the comments for these
I started crying at "God bless you Mac"
I have a very shallow historical background, I find these glimpses of the past really enlightening !
I misread the title as Ronald Macdonald’s adventure, as he explores pre-imperial Japan in 1848.
Wow, this was beautiful. I wasn't expecting it to end with the arrival of the US. That was an amazing experience to hear from an outsider within a closed off nation. Who ever the VA was props, this was a great video all around.
I love how these sorts of people back then write when recording their experiences. It's like they didn't touch pen to paper unless they had something really good to say. It's almost like reading poetry.
Reflective of the different standards in education. Practically anything you read that makes use of proper grammar will sound like poetry these days. Thank our shockingly poor education system and so called "higher education". Then again, it's to be expected when universities spend more time teaching kids that they're victims, that there are unlimited genders, and to hate all men, anyone with white skin, and anyone straight... Just saw some schools trying to work drag queen courses into their curriculum. The fall of empires indeed. Lol
What a wonderful story, a rare positive example of humanity from an otherwise bloodthirsty time.
Oh sweet, didn't expect Ainos in this story, Aino is a fantastic language.
17:12 foreshadowing for the meiji restoration
Moreso commenting on it, as the Meiji Restoration began to happen within his own lifetime.
This channel is Gem and is always interesting to listen to
I read the thumbnail as “Ronald MacDonald in Japan“ and I thought this was some kind of Always Sunny episode I missed.
This channel is a hidden Gem! I'm so glad I found it. Thank you!
I thought that says "Ronald McDonald" and got very confused
Reject shogun.
Embrace borgar.
It basically does
After visiting Japan he invented the Big MaC
You are not alone there and I momentarily suspected a file name mixup.
Ronald McDonald came later to Japan.
Wowww I really wanna see Sakoku Japan with my own eyes...
0:02 And the art work is beautiful through & through.
God this channel is such a hidden gem.
The foresight if this writer is remarkable.
"I cannot say they were beautiful nor on the other hand were they ugly" Chad Ranald don't need no waifu.
And thus was able to keep his head over his shoulders lmao
I mean he did say him and the captain were "close friends" and he was also close with one of his interpreters and enjoyed to company of men sooo... I thought perhaps he is one of us.
@@kirinschlabitz4085 That’s not implied in the slightest
@@kirinschlabitz4085 People when someone in history had male best friend and liked hanging out with people with the same gender as them: Oh they must be gay
@@creativepop8196 I’m not saying people of the same sex can’t be friends lol I just said it was a possibility they were gay or queer in some way? I think it’s rather silly to always assume people are straight or always assume they are gay given the range of orientations. I was mostly joking but also slightly hopeful for some representation.
Thank you once again for your outstanding productions. With out a doubt some of the very best content online!
One tiny, loving, albeit pedantic comment.
Et cetera with a T, not Ek/Ex cetera. 💜💜💜💜💜💜😀🙏🖖😽
It almost sounds like his arrival and subsequent demeanor, along with the timing of the arriving ship helped to open the country.
Top 5 UA-cam channels out there change my mind
Hmm for many reasons yes but vs truth channels since its so important right now not exactly for me anyways.
@@frequencyoftruth2303 So how exactly is actual first hand narrated accounts of Japanese-Western contact not truth?
Mark Felton channel is on that list.
@@frequencyoftruth2303 tRuTh
So interesting to see this mans story half chinook man who is so well educated talking about Japan I wish he had more of a traditional indigenous comparison or talked to them more about such things but damn it’s so beautiful story.
Lived there a couple of years & taught English in Tokyo 89-91... wonderful place, and wonderful video, many thanks
This is probably my second favorite historical account, my first being the Wendy's girl's account of exploring Tsarist Russia.
I prefer the fabulous tale of Captain Long John Silver.
Beautiful channel, really appreciate the visuals to go along with the journal's. Amazing stuff, thank you!
One of the original Weebs, risking his life to find out what going on in Japan
Yup
he's a pioneer not a fricking weeb.
He's 1/2 weeb because of his dad ; his other half is PNW native american which means hes related to the Ainu. This account doesn't state it . But he actually met a crew of Japanese shipwrecks when he was a kid in British Colombia, he noticed that they looked a lot like his own native american people so he learned japanese from them. This trip was him trying to confirm the relation to the Ainu and the Native Americans.
I love listening to these before I go to sleep. Amazing content as always
Such an interesting story
1800s Japan is always overlooked 🤷🏿♂️
You didn't even watch the video
@@GrigRP She most likely did
@@FlamingBasketballClub She clearly didn't. Makes generic comments like this everywhere to get more subscribers. Embarrassing.
@@GrigRP You do realize this channel is known for narration right? Just because she's interested in the story that was provided in this video doesn't mean she didn't watch it.
15:04 That was so sad. Honestly wanted to cry over this. What a shame, poor Captain!
12:00 didn’t bow and lived to tell about it? What a badass. Definitely a braver man than I
Fascinating historical accounts. Thankyou.
"An utopia of the East"
Oh god he was a weeb
no weeb would cut themselves loose on a dingy and hope to float over and learn more about Japan or die trying. actually, maybe.
Compared to the rest of the East at that time it's not hard to understand.
Its a shame we dont hear anything about this man, thx to this channel we hear the accounts of many people not taught in school. This man helped paved the way for trade with Japan!
I'm lovin' it.
thanks guys that was well worth my time.
That little story about how sake ended up being called "grogyes" was fantastic.
This video is pure perfection!
12:00 why do i feel like he made it all up in his head and in reality he just bowed down and shat his pants XD??
now that you mention it... yeah , probably 😂
🤣
Albeit the man was half white & a Christian, back then, Native men were kind of expected to stand strong, disregard discomfort & deal with the consequences of their actions. I kind of think, by his plan & that he refused allowing anyone else to come with him, that he kind of expected that he would die trying to do this, but hoped he would be pleasantly surprised.
I must find this and read it! Fascinating stuff! Excellent narration, as usual.
16:45 "I believe they would suffer annihilation, rather than surrender in defense of their country"
his belief would be somewhat proven correct less than 100 years later
Disproven as they surrendered instead of facing anihillation.
@@MrScigeek101 they prove that on the battlefield
@@MrScigeek101 Hirohito the war criminal wanted to save his own skin. If he had been a fanatic they would have gone down fighting and tens of millions more Japanese would have been killed and millions of Allied soldiers.
@@paulstone3590 well, maybe… however the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings would actually prove that (hypothetically speaking) there would’ve been exponentially more casualties on the Japanese side had they not surrendered after the bombings…
@@marisolamaya159 Yes. There had been more Japanese civilians and military killed in Okinawa and during the island hopping campaign. But the US had used up both of it's atom bombs. And what people don't realize is that the B2 bomber air raids killed a lot more Japanese than the atomic weapons. One raid in Tokyo killed 100k Japanese civilians. But if an invasion had taken place estimates were one million US soldiers would die. And that is something the US public could not stomach.
This was glorious. What a story. Well done. Excellent narration.
“They cannot pronounce the letter ‘L’” oh my GOD
They also can't pronounce the letter R. Instead the letter Japanese use is somewhere between an R and L this makes it seem to western ears like they pronounce L as R and R as L because our ears hear what we don't expect more.
I mean, it is different than the racial stereotype of today. The thing is that the pronounciation in japanese doesn't include an exact parallel to the L, thus they had no practice of pronouncing it the way it is pronounced in english.
This happens with other languages too, I'll give an example I've seen by my own account: I speak spanish, we have a particular pronounciation of the letter J, this pronounciation doesn't exist in Italian, when I went to Italy to visit family, I noticed those who didn't speak spanish had a hard time pronouncing it.
Its true. All of it
oooo mai gaaaa
Yep, it's less a matter of "not being able to produce the sound" and more the fact that they struggle to create the sound consistenly more than one time, since they never had to use it integrated in language. A Chinese friend had a rough time with the spanish "R" but if you asked him to imite a chainsaw he managed to do it.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
MacDonald telling his friend about his idea:
"ok so you know how I'm obsessed with Japan"
"What is that again?"
"Japan, that far away land across the pacific ocean I'm always talking about"
"Oh no, here we go. Look, I'd love to chat about it but me and Elizabeth are going to the tavern in like 30 minutes and I gotta get ready"
"No, no listen! I'm gonna go there!"
"Sure, you've said that a million times. Plus, if I remember correctly from your ramblings, you said it was closed off from us Westerners."
"Yeah well I was thinking and I came up with a plan to get around that. I'm gonna pretend to be a castaway and out of their kindness they'll take me in"
"you're gonna go on a dingy..."
"yes."
"...float on over...."
"yes."
"...and hope they let you in."
"precisely."
"Yeah, look, I'm gonna go to the tavern and drink a whole bunch so I can forget you even said that."
"then I guess this is Sayonara, friend."
"wait is that Japanese? How do you know that?"
"wait how do you know that."
"um."
This channel is my primary source for new books thank you !
That Ranald guy isn’t the first weeb during that period.
ur using weeb like 12 year olds use simp when someone calls a girl pretty. this man literally risked his life to explore a closed off hostile foreign land to learn about it. and his name was Ronald Macdonald
@@highonlife2323 idk risking your life to go to japan seems like a weeb move to me
two majestic cultures, japanese and native american. had many japanese girlfriends, all enjoyed my cultured as native american
Usually, I'm generally annoyed by sponsor plugs, but I really wish I could afford Magellan.
Amazing story. I love this channel.
i, Ranald MacDonald, of fair and generous disposition, proceeded to give this foreigner a sandwich to which he said "oishii". It was then I knew my fortunes lay in spreading the knowledge of this tasty concoction of meat, bread, onions, pickles, and a sauce the man called "spe xial".
Always interesting!! Love the pictures !! Eagerly awaiting the next installment.
That line about how the Japanese would face anihilation rather than surrender was spooky as fuck. I had to rewind it and listen again.. next level real life foreshadowing
I dont see whats so foreshadowing about it. Thats how most of Japanese history is in terms of warfare. Nothing new really.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you
He opened the first McDonald's in Japan, mad respect ✊
These videos are all so amazing. Thank you for the work that you do.
No timid man sets himself a quest for knowledge.
How interesting, I really enjoyed this, thank you!!
I'm waiting for the segment on Colonel Sanders as a castaway in Japan.
This is my new favorite channel