A Taoist sorcerer who lived during China's Qin dynasty, Xu Fu became famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) for one of history's most ambitious wild goose chases. When Emperor Qin Shi Huang demanded she locate an elixir of immortality, she assembled a massive expedition—three thousand young men and women—and sailed off to Japan. She made it to Japan, sure enough, but she never came back to China. Whether that was by choice or circumstance remains genuinely unclear.
What's interesting is how she's remembered in Japan. Over the centuries, various regions have claimed connections to her, and local legends credit her with introducing pharmaceutical knowledge, advanced ceramic techniques, and other technologies to the islands. Fans of obscure history often note how her story sits right at the intersection of myth and possibility—a real historical figure whose actual accomplishments have become thoroughly tangled with legend.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
