He survived the sinking of the Titanic – and Japan never let him live it down

Masabumi Hosono was shamed for not adhering to the ‘women and children first’ principle and avoiding an honourable death by going down with the ship

The stigma followed him for the rest of his life. Condemned as cowardly, he lived as a recluse until his death from natural causes in 1939

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Passengers aboard lifeboats row to safety as the Titanic sinks in a scene from the 1997 James Cameron film “Titanic”. Photo: AP Photo/Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox

Published: 11:02am, 2 Aug 2023

To this day, the sinking of the Titanic remains the single most fascinating event in maritime-disaster history.

But what continues to intrigue people even more are the captivating stories of survivors, even ones as sad as that of Masabumi Hosono.

Before the Titanic set sail, Hosono, a Japanese bureaucrat, was working in Russia as vice councillor of the Railway Board for the Japanese Ministry of Transportation, the Japan Times reported.

Finally headed home, 42-year-old Hosono opted to board the Titanic in Southampton, England, rather than make the trek across Russia. A second-class passenger, he was believed to be the only Japanese traveller to board the ship, the Japan Times reported.

Japanese Titanic survivor Masabumi Hosono. Photo: Handout

On the cold evening of April 14, 1912, the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic took a deadly turn when the ship crashed into an iceberg.

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