Native American in the Land of the Shogun

* raises to prominence the role of a non-White from the West in the opening of Japan * forthcoming Tom Cruise movie The Last Samurai will bring westernization of Japan into popular media * extensive primary research corrects wrong information about MacDonald previously published * touches on Indian life and education in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s * an engagingly good story, solid popular history about a pivotal event in Japan-US history * the arena of early Japan-US relations is a popular subject for manga and anime