Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

May 7, 1843 (14th Year of Temp, Year of the Hare)

After three-and-a-half years away, the John Howland pranced along the white foam of the sea toward home. All of her decks had been scrubbed to a shine, every brass knob buffed, every rail polished, and every flag on board fluttered from her rigging. She carried 2,761 barrels of whale oil and nineteen crew members, including one Japanese boy, for all anyone knew the first ever to come to America.