Kenichi Horie and SF Maritime Collections

contact us - faq - catalogs

 

Kenichi Horie's signature on the half-title page of the Library's rare copy of his book, Kodoku

NPS

Park Curator Stephen Canright said it best: "San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is proud of its association with Kenichi Horie, Japan's most famous yachtsman, and the first man in history to make a non-stop solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean."

Our relationship with Mr. Horie began with his historic voyage to our city, arriving in San Francisco on Sunday, August 12, 1962, and those of us working in Collections are honored to preserve and make available for research the many items associated with Mr. Horie, which include:

Library items: Search for library items by and about Kenichi Horie in the Keys Catalog or search for his book, Kodoku : sailing alone across the Pacific in libraries worldwide (including SF Maritime).

Museum objects: Search for objects associated with Kenichi Horie in the NPS Museum Collection Catalog (select "San Francisco Maritime" from the pull-down menu and then fill in search terms in the boxes)

His boat, the Mermaid:

• In the Museum Collections; contact us for more information
• Featured in Stephen Canright's article, "Kenichi Horie and the Mermaids"

For further research:

• Full Fathom Five blog series on Kenichi Horie's first voyage:
• "Sailing Alone Across the Pacific: The Person"
  "Sailing Alone Across the Pacific: The Anniversary"
• "Sailing Alone Across the Pacific: The Boat"

• Kenichi Horie's official site, in English or Japanese, about his voyage, the world's longest (Hawaii to Japan) on a wave powered boat, the Suntory Mermaid II.

• "Young Japanese gains world fame with epic Pacific cruise" (Gadsden Times, Aug. 26, 1962)
• "Japanese voyager ordered home" (AAP/Reuters, in Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 15, 1962)
• "Tales of the North Pacific" (SF Weekly, Wed., Apr. 18, 2001)
• "Vox Populi: Kenichi Horie, a hero of our times" (The Asahi Shimbun, vernacular ed., p. 1, Aug. 12, 2012)
• "The amazing low-tech sailor from Japan" (SFGate, Mon., Aug. 20, 2012)