Denbei

first Japanese to come to Russia during the period of Japan’s isolation (1630’s to 1850’s). In 1695 the vessel on which Denbei was sailing was driven by a storm to the southern coast of Kamchatka. Two years later he was discovered there among the Itel’mens (Kamchadals) by V. V. Atlasov and was taken to Moscow in 1701. In January 1702, after conversations with Denbei, Peter I ordered that he be taught Russian so that he could teach Japanese to several Russian children. After 1707 he lived in the home of Prince M. P. Gagarin.