Perry Opens Japan: Commodore Ends Two Centuries of Isolation
Four black warships materialized in Edo Bay carrying 967 men and 61 cannons—technology Japan's 250-year isolation policy hadn't prepared them for. Commodore Matthew Perry handed Japanese officials President Fillmore's letter requesting trade, then sailed away. He'd return in seven months for an answer. The Tokugawa shogunate, which had executed foreign traders and banned Christianity to preserve control, faced an impossible choice: accept Western demands or face bombardment. Within fifteen years, the shogun system collapsed entirely. Sometimes the most aggressive act is simply showing up and waiting.
July 8, 1853
173 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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