Some call today Pi day, as the first three digits of the date (3.14) are the first three digits of the constant pi used to calculate the circumference and area of a circle.   Which makes it a good day to raise a toast to Hakudo Maru.

By Japanese naming convention, merchant and private ship names end in the word “Maru,” meaning circle.    There are several explanations for this convention, including that ships were thought of as floating castles and maru represents the defensive “circles” that protected the castle.  Another explanation is that the suffix honors, Hakudo Maru, the celestial being in Japanese mythology who is said to have come to Earth 5000 years ago and taught humans how to build ships.  A toast to Hokudo Maru.

My favorite explanation is that maru represents the hope that the ship leaves port, travels the world, and returns safely to home port, representing the complete circle of a successful voyage.