In 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry went to Japan, he made an initial stop in the Bonin Islands, 600 miles south of Tokyo, at an island settlement called Chichijima. It is part or the island chain now known as Ogasawara, which includes Iwo Jima. 

Perry stopped there as he knew it had been settled by Americans and British in the 1830s and he was eager to establish and area where Americans could store coal for the new steam ships being constructed for the U.S. Navy. Mr. Nathaniel Savory was the senior American on the island and Perry bought some land from him for $50. He also gave Savory an American flag. It had 31 stars, which represented the number of states at the time with the recent addition of California to the Union in 1850. 

Nathaniel Savory and his descendants proudly displayed the flag to visitors, along with the $50 receipt from Perry for the land purchase. They even raised the American flag on a staff when foreign ships arrived in port. The openness of flag display changed over time as Japan became more militaristic and then went to war with the United States. When the military took over the island during the war, residents were moved to other areas.   The descendants of Savory, fearing reprisals due to their American heritage, burned the flag before they left the island.

 In 2020, a journalist, Simon Denyer, for the Washington Post, who was stationed in Tokyo, wrote an article about ethnicity, including inter-racial marriage, and focused his discussion on the Chichijima residents, who had a mixture of American and Japanese heritage. The journalist emphasized that the descendants did not consider themselves Americans or Japanese, but Islanders and were proud of their mixed heritage.

The article of the Savory family and the loss of the American flag given to their ancestor by Commodore Perry, made a compassionate and sympathetic impression on the 83-year-old Mr. Akira Kondo, who owned a watch store in Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. He decided, with the support of the Iyo-Saijo Indirect Tax Association to create a duplicate of the 31-star flag and give it to the Savory family.

Mr. Takashi Savory received the flag on behalf of the family and stated that the surprised Savory descendants in Chichijima were overjoyed to accept the flag. Mr. Savory stated, “The Stars and Stripes given by Perry must have been the emotional support of our ancestors. I am deeply moved by it.”

Mr. Savory has participated in Black Ships festivals that have been held in Newport, Rhode Island, and in Shimoda, Japan, and is proud of the long-term relationship his family has had with the United States and the connection with Commodore Perry.

Mr. Savory remembers the visit of Dr. Hiroshi Nakahama conducted with his daughter, Kyo, in 1992. Kyo is a descendant of Manjiro Nakahama, who was the first Japanese person to live in the United States and was a key person in the successful diplomatic negotiations that Commodore Perry had with the Japanese government in 1853 and 1854. Ms. Kyo Nakahama is active with grassroot summits and a friend of mine. We both participate in summits between our 3 countries, which are conducted annually and assist in understanding cultural differences and working towards friendship and maintaining peace. 

By creating and donating this flag to the Savory descendants on Chichijima, Mr. Kondo expressed great compassion for his Japanese citizens that he did not know. He also demonstrated a respect for Commodore Perry, who had given the original flag to Nathaniel Savory. Mr. Kondo said, “Numerous sacrifices have become the foundation of today’s peace. I hope the replica will be useful in conveying the history of Chichijima island.” These individual acts of kindness and respect are important in the current tensions around the world and are greatly needed for world peace.