Old Scroll from 1853 Found

The other day I was talking with a co-worker. He was looking over all
the Japanese paraphenelia I have at my cubicle and asked if I spoke
or read Japanese. Unfortunately I read none and my speech is well
enough to get me around but not fluent.
He said that back in the 60's he had purchases a Habachi in Japan for
$20. The drawers were all swollen shut from the humidity. When he had
finally dried the desk out and was able to open the drawers he found
inside a box and inside that box was a scroll. He hired a translator
but the language was too old for the translator and all he could
translate was the writing on the box that said Commodore Perry.
At this point my jaw dropped to the ground. And I tried not to laugh
when he said that that dated the scroll back to the 1700's lol. I
politely corrected him. :)
So the reason he was asking me if i read Japanese was he wanted to
see if I could translate it. I couldn't but my bestfriend's mother
might. Her mother grew up in a Buddhist Temple and is very interested
in her history.
So he's going to bring the scroll in and have my friends mom
translate it. I'm so excited!! I can't wait to actually touch a peice
of history that I love so much.
I'll keep everyone informed when i get it. I'll take pictures and
post them somewhere for all to see.

Kira

Kira,

This is amazing! I hope that you also convince your friend to seek the aid
of someone who is knowledgeable about preservation. Such a delicate
and potentially valuable piece needs to be protected.

Good luck and PLEASE keep us up to date!

Your message made my day!

~secretarytocapt3

Heck, that is so dang interesting I can just imagine your
excitement. I want to see!

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "kirasaige" wrote:
>
> The other day I was talking with a co-worker. He was looking over
all
> the Japanese paraphenelia I have at my cubicle and asked if I spoke
> or read Japanese. Unfortunately I read none and my speech is well
> enough to get me around but not fluent.
> He said that back in the 60's he had purchases a Habachi in Japan
for
> $20. The drawers were all swollen shut from the humidity. When he
had
> finally dried the desk out and was able to open the drawers he
found
> inside a box and inside that box was a scroll. He hired a
translator
> but the language was too old for the translator and all he could
> translate was the writing on the box that said Commodore Perry.
> At this point my jaw dropped to the ground. And I tried not to
laugh
> when he said that that dated the scroll back to the 1700's lol. I
> politely corrected him. :)
> So the reason he was asking me if i read Japanese was he wanted to
> see if I could translate it. I couldn't but my bestfriend's mother
> might. Her mother grew up in a Buddhist Temple and is very
interested
> in her history.
> So he's going to bring the scroll in and have my friends mom
> translate it. I'm so excited!! I can't wait to actually touch a
peice
> of history that I love so much.
> I'll keep everyone informed when i get it. I'll take pictures and
> post them somewhere for all to see.
>
> Kira
>

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "kirasaige" wrote:

> He hired a translator
> but the language was too old for the translator and all he could
> translate was the writing on the box that said Commodore Perry.

Frankly it sounds like he wasted his money on a bad translator, or
someone just claiming to read Japanese. Anyway, keep us posted, should
be interesting.