Picture circa 1856-1858
Metropolitan Museum of Art, online collection (The Met object ID 283184)
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry led four ships to Japan to establish both trade and diplomatic relations with a country that had barred trade with other nations except The Netherlands and China. Why did the U.S. want trade with Japan and willing to pressure the Japanese with four naval vessels sitting in their waters?
By the mid 19th century, the United States had undergone major changes and now had ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. With new steam powered ships now going back and forth from China and other ports in Asia, the need for refueling and provisions were needed for the long voyages. American whalers also operated in the North Pacific needing places to pull into for provisions. Japan, because of its geographic location and its coal, became important for maritime trade. However, Japan was steadfast in keeping its borders closed to everyone but the Dutch and Chinese restricting all international trade to a small island in Nagasaki. And it been that way since the 17th century.
The Tokugawa Shogunate began in 1603 bringing a long period of peace to Japan. Gone were the wars between daimyos vying for power over large areas or Japan itself. A new social and political order emerged resulting in those lords being bound to the shogunate preventing them from acquiring individual power. The shogunate was distrustful of outside influences, and particularly the spread of Christianity in Japan. The Portuguese, who had traded with the Japanese since 1543, were expelled along with Catholic priests. Only the Dutch, who made contact in 1600 when the last surviving ship arrived, would be allowed a trading post on Dejima, an island in Nagasaki which the Portuguese once used. William Adams, the character whom the fictional John Blackthorne is based, became an important advisor to the shogunate acquiring the status of samurai and hatamoto allowing for a trade deal to be signed with the Dutch. Japan would have relations with both China and Korea but no one else.
The period that followed (the Edo Period) saw Japan divided into a society of samurai, artisans, farmers, and merchants. Mobility between them was not allowed and samurai, since there were no battles to be fought, became bureaucrats but were required to keep their fighting skills. Most of the population were peasants who worked on lands were forbidden to do any other work. The economy grew as the agricultural, commerce, and manufacturing sectors became more developed resulting in merchants becoming wealthier. Cities like Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo (Tokyo) became centers of culture and wealth during this period. The strictures of the shogunate though caused tension and sometimes uprisings. During periods of famine, the peasants were left with nothing resulting in uprisings. Samurai, relegated to government jobs but required to keep their martial training, also began to resent their status. This was the undercurrent at play when on 8 July 1853 Commodore Perry arrived with his ships in Tokyo Bay.
In 1851 President Millard Fillmore authorized a formal naval expedition to Japan. He desired an agreement that shipwrecked sailors of both countries would be returned to their respective countries. Commodore John Aulick was originally in charge but replaced by Commodore Matthew Perry (who had distinguished himself in the Mexican War) to deliver the letters to the emperor. When his four ships arrived in Tokyo Bay, they were told to leave and go Nagasaki. He refused and ran battle drills daily to impress the Japanese. Neither he nor his government knew at the time the Japanese emperor had no power as it rested entirely with the Tokugawa Shogunate. However, on July 14 two imperial princes-Ido and Toda-came out to greet him and have a formal meeting in a special place constructed for the event.
1889 Artist Unknown
Source: Pauline Park via pinterest.com
His letters and gifts would be presented asking for a treaty for the exchange of shipwrecked sailors and to open one or two ports for provisions and refueling. Perry would depart Japan, conduct some water depth tests, and return in the spring for Japan’s answer to President Fillmore’s letters. Upon his return in 1854, Japan signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854. The treaty was not commercial but allowed Japan to protect stranded American seamen and open two ports-Shimoda and Hakodate- for refueling and provisioning to American ships. It also allowed the U.S. to appoint consuls to represent its interests in those ports as well along with a most favored nation clause that gave the same rights other countries had with Japan. With the appointment of consuls and an opening for trade, it would ensure both nations would develop ties. It would take a little longer for that as the consuls appointed didn’t have a naval fleet sitting in the bay, but it would eventually occur.
Japan was aware of what other European countries were doing in Asia through its relations with China, Korea, and the Dutch. And they saw it was done by military action especially in China. So they decided to enter a commercial treaty in 1858, often called the Harris Treaty for Townsend Harris the American consul who negotiated it. In 1860, the first diplomats arrived in Washington D.C. Other European nations would make their own treaties with Japan. The isolation of Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate had come to an end.
Aftermath
Photo: Uchida Kuichi
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
The Tokugawa Shogunate was in a weakened state at the time of Commodore Perry’s arrival in 1853. Tensions had been growing for some time and the treaty signed in 1854 enraged many seeing as a capitulation to an outside power. In 1867 two clans- Choshu and Satsuma-combined and toppled the Tokugawa Shogunate declaring an imperial restoration (the Meiji Restoration). In 1889 the Meiji Constitution was enacted creating a parliament (called the Diet). Both the prime minister and cabinet were appointed by the emperor. It would remain in effect until 1947.
Japan entered a rapid period of modernization by importing experts from abroad to build new industries, develop and modernize their armed forces, and trade with the world. The old feudal system was abolished and people for the most part could do things that previously were closed to them. Edo was renamed Tokyo (meaning eastern capital), and the emperor moved his residence there becoming the capital. Some of the modernization began under the Shogunate but it accelerated after it was toppled. It emulated and learned much from both the United States and Europe. By 1904, it was contesting Russia over its desire to expand into the Pacific on the Korean and Liaodong peninsulas. Russia wanted a warm water port and Japan was wary of their intentions. This would result in war in 1904 between the two powers. After a surprise attack on the Russians at Port Arthur in China, a bloody war would result. The Russians would send a massive fleet 8,000 miles to retake Port Arthur only to see it sunk by the Japanese. The world was stunned at what the Japanese had done in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Japan won the war, and it was clear warning to the world Japan was a power to be contended with.
Sources:
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