Jonathan Goble

{{Short description|American Christian missionary}} The Reverend '''Jonathan Goble''' (1827–1897) was an American Free Baptist minister and missionary in Yokohama, Japan. He travelled with Matthew C. Perry to Japan in 1853. While there, he learned the Japanese language. He returned as the first Baptist missionary to Japan in 1860.<ref>{{Cite book |title=World History and Cultures in Christian Perspective |publisher=Abeka |year=2015 |location=Pensacola, FL, USA |pages=290 |language=English}}</ref> It is said that around 1869, he built the first rickshaw to transport his invalid wife Eliza Goble around the city.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jonathan Goble of Japan |last=Parker |first= F. Calvin |year=1990 |publisher=University Press of America |location=New York |isbn=0-8191-7639-7 }}</ref> However, there are numerous other theories about the origin of the rickshaw.

==Name== His name is listed variously as ''Jonathan Scobie'', ''E. Jonathan Scobie'' and ''Jonathan Goble''.

== In culture == Musical Theater: Jonathan Goble appears as a character (played by the narrator) in act two of the musical ''Pacific Overtures'', explaining how he came to invent his rickshaw while a series of local residents working as runners pulling his rickshaw die of exhaustion, each instantly replaced by a new runner.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sondheim |first=Stephen |title=Pacific Overtures |last2=Weidman |first2=John |last3=Wheeler |first3=Hugh |last4=Prince |first4=Harold |date=2004 |publisher=Theatre Communications Group |isbn=978-1-55936-026-5 |edition=2. pr |location=New York, NY}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scobie, Jonathan}} Category:Baptist missionaries in Japan Category:American missionaries in Japan Category:Baptist missionaries from the United States Category:1827 births Category:1897 deaths Category:19th-century Baptists