The Black Ships and the Opening of Japan — Four Vessels That Ended Two Centuries of Seclusion
The turbulent age of the Bakumatsu opened with four ships that came from across the sea. In 1853 a squadron led by the American Commodore Perry appeared at Uraga, at the mouth of Edo Bay. This was the arrival of the Black Ships.
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Black Ships at Uraga
At the time Japan maintained a system of trade limited to a few partners such as the Dutch and Chinese — the so-called seclusion (sakoku). Into this scene suddenly appeared a fleet — among them steam-powered warships belching black smoke and moving under their own power — and the shock to the people was immense. (Not all four ships were steamers; the squadron mixed steamships and sailing vessels.)
Perry delivered a letter from the American president and strongly demanded that Japan open its ports. Faced with a demand backed by overwhelming military power, the shogunate avoided an immediate answer and put off its reply to the following year.
A shogunate in turmoil
After the Black Ships departed, the shogunate faced an unprecedented situation. The senior councillor Abe Masahiro sought the opinions of the daimyo and even the imperial court on the crucial decisions the shogunate had until then monopolized.
This decision also showed, at home and abroad, that the shogunate's authority was no longer absolute. It was a great turning point that led toward the rising tide of reverence for the emperor and expulsion of the barbarians.
The Convention of Kanagawa and the opening of Japan
In 1854, when Perry returned, the shogunate concluded the Convention of Kanagawa. Among its terms were the opening of Shimoda and Hakodate, and the system that had endured for more than two centuries was greatly transformed.
In 1858 a further treaty permitting broader commerce was signed, and ports such as Yokohama were opened to trade. The opening of the country brought enormous change to politics, the economy, and culture alike.
Awakening to coastal defense
The shock of the Black Ships posed the urgent question of guarding the coast. Gun batteries were hastily built in Edo Bay (the Odaiba), and the need for Western-style arms and a navy was keenly felt.
The arrival of the Black Ships was not a single event. It was the starting point of the long Bakumatsu, in which Japan fundamentally rethought the framework it had lived by.
The cultural changes the opening of Japan brought are explored across Bakumatsu Culture.
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