Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

INTRODUCTION • 7
President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese government. In addition to
establishing a formal diplomatic relationship between the two countries,
President Fillmore’s letter outlined three specific objectives the United
States government desired from Japan. First, the Americans wanted
Japan’s assurance that shipwrecked sailors found on Japan’s shores
would be aided and cared for until an American vessel arrived to retrieve
them. Second, with the advent of steamships, Americans wanted
to use one or more ports in Japan for coal, along with water and other
provisions for use by their ships in the Asia Pacific region. Finally, they
sought to establish trade relations with Japan in the belief that commerce
between the two countries would be of mutual benefit. Aware
that shogunate officials would need time to consider the proposals,
Perry and the American fleet left for the Ryukyu Islands and China after
informing the Japanese officials that they would return within one
year for an answer.
Perry returned to Japan in February 1854 with eight warships. There
is no firm evidence he directly threatened to use force to secure a treaty,
but the presence of such firepower was an obvious “gunboat diplomacy”
factor during negotiations. Tokugawa shogunate officials were
confronted with a serious dilemma: they had to make an agreement with
Perry despite the opposition of most daimyō. After negotiations started,
a measure of friendliness and goodwill developed between Americans
and Japanese. American sailors wandered around the area, and local
Japanese villagers soon lost their fear and crowded to see the big,
funny-looking barbarians from the West. American sailors and lowerlevel
Japanese officials spent much time eating and drinking together,
while Perry and top Japanese officials argued and negotiated.
In the end, Japanese officials agreed to protect shipwrecked sailors
and provide the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate for depots of coal and
other provisions for American vessels. However, they steadfastly refused
to establish commercial trade relations with the United States.
Perry sailed away with the Kanagawa Treaty, the first formal government
agreement between Japan and a Western country. Perry’s
1853–1854 mission and the Kanagawa Treaty between Japan and the
United States unleashed a deluge of longstanding, internal discontent
within Japan. From 1853 to 1868, political intrigue, assassinations, an
increasingly strained relationship between the Tokugawa shogun in Edo
and the imperial court in Kyoto, and finally civil war between pro-