Tag Archives: Masabumi Hosono

Titanic News Roundup 6/25/17

Summer tends to be a slow for Titanic news so I generally do not post as often as many people are away on summer break. Here is some recent Titanic news of interest to Titanic enthusiasts and others.

1. Lego model of Titanic built with 125,000 pieces on display in Cavendish (CBC News, 24 June 2017)
There have been some fantastic recreations of Titanic using Lego. And here is one that most definitely took a lot of work and love to do. “The Lego Titanic model is made up of about 125,000 pieces and measures about nine metres long, said the Maritime Fun Group’s Jessica Caseley. t’s quite large. So, when you go up to it, it just looks like a large boat. You start to notice all of the details. You could probably spend 10 to 20 minutes just examining the structure itself. Yeah, it’s really neat,” she said.

2. Margaret Brown led a remarkable life even apart from surviving the Titanic (A.V.Club, 18 June 2017)
Mrs. Brown dove into high society, becoming a devotee of the arts and learning four languages. She raised funds for a cathedral in Denver, and helped establish the country’s first juvenile court. Two years after the Titanic, Brown ran for the U.S. Senate, but cut her campaign short to volunteer to help France recover from the first World War. She used her Titanic fame to work for workers’ rights, women’s rights, education, and historic preservation, before dying of a brain tumor at age 65.

Masabumi Hosono, 1912
Image: Public Domain

3. Masabumi Hosono survived the Titanic, but not the public’s scorn (A.V. Club, 25 June 2017)
Initially, Hosono was celebrated alongside other survivors. An American newspaper ran a story on the “Lucky Japanese Boy.” (As Hosono was 41, “Boy” seems to be racism typical of the era.) But he was soon condemned both in America and at home for not honoring the ethos of “women and children first.” A best-selling book about Titanic survivors described him as a “stowaway” on the lifeboat, and the seaman in charge of the lifeboat told the U.S. Senate he must have disguised himself as a woman to sneak on board. Neither account was true—by his own account, Hosono saw other lifeboats depart and mentally prepared himself for death. But as lifeboat 10 was loading up, someone shouted “room for two more!” and Hosono followed another man on board. It’s hard to imagine anyone else would have acted differently in the same situation.

4. Premier Exhibitions Bankruptcy Update
Premier filed its monthly operating report for May 2017. According to the filing “The Debtors have entered a Plan Support Agreement under which they have agreed to propose a Chapter 11 reorganization plan which the Equity Committee supports. Under the Plan Support Agreement, the Debtors and the Equity Committee are engaged in a marketing process to sell all of the Debtors’ assets, including the entire Titanic Artifacts Collection either as assets of the estate or through the sale of RMS Titanic Inc., the company that holds the Titanic Artifacts. The remaining Debtors and their assets likewise would be sold. The deadline for receipt of initial letters of intent is currently scheduled for July 21, 2017.” Further information can be found at the following links:
June 23, 2017
Premier Exhibitions 8-K:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/796764/000117184317003792/f8k_062317.htm

List of Exhibits 99.1-99.8
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/796764/000117184317003792/0001171843-17-003792-index.htm

Equity Committee Website

To close out this Sunday edition, here is nice tune for summer from The Beach Boys

Japanese Titanic Survivor Memoirs To Be Exhibited At Yokohama Museum

Masabumi Hosono, 1912 Image: Public Domain
Masabumi Hosono, 1912
Image: Public Domain

Masabumi Hosono, the lone Japanese Titanic survivor, will have his memoirs displayed at Yokohama Minato Museum this month as part of “Treasures collection” to celebrate 25 years of the museum. Hosono, age 42, was a civil servant of the Japanese Ministry of Transport who had been sent to Russia in 1910 to study their railway system. He then went to London for further research then boarded Titanic as a second class passenger. While aboard he started writing a letter to his wife though it was not completed until after he survived.

He was awakened by a knock on the door and went outside to find out what was going on. He was initially sent to the lower decks since he was a foreigner but made his way back to the upper deck. He got into Titanic lifeboat #10 when an officer called that there was room for two more. He did not, as some claim, try to disguise himself as a woman to get aboard the lifeboat. After he was rescued and returned to Japan, initially he was well received but then came under considerable criticism for surviving when so many women and children died. Condemned a coward in the Japanese press, he lost his government job. Textbooks used him as an example of being dishonorable. However he was hired back by the Transport Ministry and stayed there until his death in 1939.

Hosono never spoke of Titanic and was a source of shame for his family. The letter to his wife was published twice, the second time in the 1990’s. With that letter published and now an exhibit of his memoirs and letter,it is hoped to reverse the years of social disgrace that resulted from surviving such a tragedy.

Sources:
1. Lone Japanese Titanic Survivor’s Memoirs To Be Exhibited At Yokohama Museum(9 April 2014,JDP)
2. Masabumi Hosono(Wikipedia)
3.Masabumi Hosono-Titanic Survivor (Encyclopedia Titanica)

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