<figure class="image-550">
<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-29/mariano-ponce-standing-and-sun-yat-sen-in-yokohama.webp" loading="lazy" alt=" 
A historical black-and-white archival photograph of Filipino diplomat Mariano Ponce standing on the left and Chinese revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen seated on the right. Both men are dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos and hakama, posing indoors against a plain background in Yokohama, Japan, circa 1899." />
<figcaption>
Mariano Ponce (left) and Dr. Sun Yat-sen (right) in traditional Japanese attire while in Yokohama, Japan, circa 1899, symbolizing the clandestine pan-Asian network formed to support the Philippine-American War and the Chinese Republican movement.
</figcaption>
</figure>


<h2>
The Secret Alliance: Ponce and Sun Yat-sen
</h2>
<p>
When the Philippine-American War erupted in February 1899, General <a href="/articles/3325/emilio-aguinaldos-life-and-leadership" class="news_link">Emilio Aguinaldo</a> desperately needed modern weapons to counter the heavily armed American forces. He dispatched diplomat <a href="/kauswagan/articles/1029/today-in-philippine-history-march-23-1863-mariano-ponce-was-born-in-baliuag-bulacan" class="news_link">Mariano Ponce</a> to Japan to secure international recognition and purchase military hardware.
</p>
<p>
While in Yokohama, Ponce met <b>Dr. Sun Yat-sen</b>, the iconic revolutionary fighting to overthrow China's oppressive Qing Dynasty.
</p>
<p>
Sun Yat-sen deeply sympathized with the Filipino anti-colonial struggle. He envisioned a reciprocal alliance: if he helped the First Philippine Republic defeat the United States, a free Philippines could serve as a safe haven and a vital staging ground for his own impending Chinese revolution.
</p>
<h2>
Orchestrating the Black Market Deal
</h2>
<p>
Because the Japanese government officially wished to avoid alienating the United States, formal military aid was out of the question. Ponce and Sun Yat-sen had to operate through backchannels.
</p>
<p>
They enlisted the help of sympathetic Japanese figures: <b>Tōten Miyazaki</b> (a pan-Asianist philosopher) and <b>Yaroku Nakamura</b> (a prominent silviculturist and politician). Through Nakamura's brother, Yujiro Nakamura - who conveniently served as Japan's Vice Minister of War - the group bypassed strict military export laws.
</p>
<p>
They struck a secret 155,000-yen deal with a Japanese merchant named Kihatiro Okura. Out of this budget, 18,000 yen was used to buy an aging, iron-hulled steamship built in Scotland back in 1874: the <b>Nunobiki Maru</b>.
</p>
<h2>
The Cargo and the Strategic Plan
</h2>
<p>
When the Nunobiki Maru quietly slipped out of Nagasaki harbor on <time datetime="1899-06-20"June 20, 1899</time>, it was carrying far more than just standard infantry gear. It was loaded with an entire localized supply chain intended to make the Filipino revolutionary army self-sufficient.
</p>

<figure class="table-wrapper">
  <table>
    <caption>Strategic Military Materials and Their Purposes</caption>
    <thead>
      <tr>
        <th>Material Type</th>
        <th>Specific Items &amp; Quantities</th>
        <th>Strategic Purpose</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td><strong>Primary Arms</strong></td>
        <td>10,000 Murata Rifles</td>
        <td>To replace obsolete Spanish Mausers and single-shot rifles.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td><strong>Ammunition</strong></td>
        <td>6,000,000 Murata Rounds</td>
        <td>Critical baseline supply for immediate frontline use.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td><strong>Heavy Artillery</strong></td>
        <td>10 Field Guns &amp; 1 Fixed Cannon</td>
        <td>To match American artillery advantages in open combat.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td><strong>Manufacturing</strong></td>
        <td>Reloading Presses, Dies, &amp; Machinery</td>
        <td>To allow Filipino forces to manufacture and reload their own ammunition.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td><strong>Tactical Gear</strong></td>
        <td>Military Field Glasses &amp; Supplies</td>
        <td>To improve battlefield reconnaissance and officer coordination.</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</figure>

<p>
To bypass the aggressive American naval blockade tightly patrolling the Philippine archipelago, the ship's itinerary was heavily masked. It was scheduled to anchor briefly off the coast of Taiwan (then under Japanese control) before making a covert midnight run to a secluded beach in absolute secrecy.
</p>



Nunobiki Maru: The 1899 Secret Arms Mission

Discover how a secret 1899 arms run to the Philippines failed when the Nunobiki Maru sank in a typhoon, altering the course of two revolutions.

June 20, 1899: Nonubiki Maru leaves Nagasaki for the Philippines loaded with rifles and ammunition