Tabe Mitsuro

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Tabe Mitsuro (14th C.) was a Japanese born explorer. Born in a fishing village to a poor family in Kyūshū, he became an explorer due to chance when he was cast adrift in his fishing boat during a storm. He was rescued by a Chinese vessel and taken to the mainland continent. Despite the language barrier he thrived, choosing to travel about much of the countryside and visiting numerous townships and communities. Though the exact duration of his stay is undetermined he is said to have spent a large portion of his life in China.

In his later years he grew nostalgic for Japan and booked passage on a ship venturing as close to Japan as possible. He then set adrift on a small raft by himself and made his way towards the island of Japan.

Illiterate, as his background had not provided him with formal education, his tales of travels and exploration was related orally. Many of his stories were dismissed at the time as imaginative fictions. Compared to later historic accounts confirm that his tales were based in fact and depicted accurately the lives he had witnessed on the mainland.

Considered today an obscure folk hero a statue stands looking over the fishing town of Minoh where he is said to have been born.

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