Eventually, unable to forget his homeland, he got a whaling ship with the money earned by working in a California gold mine and set sail for Japan with his fishermen friends from Nakahama Village, Tosashimizu.
しかし、望郷の念は強く、カリフォルニアの金鉱で働き得た資金により、捕鯨船を確保し、ハワイに残された土佐の清水中浜村の漁師仲間と共に、日本に帰るべく出航した。