Although Admiral Putyatin's diplomatic activities in the Far East on behalf of the Russian Empire are well known, such as his negotiations with the Tokugawa Shogunate that resulted in the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia, less so are the documented facts of his work in the private sphere to build friendship between the two countries. I would like here to introduce the history of the warship Diana's shipwreck, the building of Japan's first western style ship, the Heda, by the shipwrights of Heda village, and the friendship between Admiral Putyatin and the local people.

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