In 1791 two sailing ships, both flying the American flag, left the Pacific Northwest bound for Japan. This was a daring venture; Japan had been a closed nation for 150 years with a policy to seize foreign ships and imprison crews indefinitely. Japanese citizens who interacted with foreigners were also under threat of severe punishment. Why did these two captains decide to risk the voyage and what was the outcome? Few details were known until recently when the logbook from The Grace, one of the