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14 April , 2003

150 Years of US-Japan Relations

I attended Matthew C. Perry Elementary School at the US Marine Corps base in Iwakuni, Japan, for part of third grade, just before my family moved to the United States. I didn't know it at the time, but my school's namesake was responsible for starting the long-standing relationship between the two countries that make up my heritage.

Click the logo for a schedule of events commemorating US-Japan relations.

Matthew Calbraith Perry was born in 1794, and died before the Civil War broke out. Perry was an advocate of US expansion in the Pacific, in reaction to the growing power of the British in colonizing much of South and East Asia. So in 1853, when he was a Commodore in the US Navy, he was sent by then-President Millard Fillmore to open Japan up to trade and diplomatic relations.

Japan had been closed off from the world for more than two centuries during the Edo period of the country's history, which was established when the samurai leader Ieyasu Tokugawa united the country's feudal lords and was appointed Shogun - the country's absolute ruler -- by the Emperor in 1603. Several decades later in 1639, the Shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa cut off all travel abroad and completely isolated Japan in 1639 by banning all foreign books and only allowing limited trade with China and the Netherlands (with two ships allowed per year) through the port of Nagasaki. Japanese who dared to travel outside the country were routinely put to death, and Westerners who dared to come to Japan, even when they were shipwrecked, were treated poorly and expelled.

By the mid-1800s, Japan was a self-enclosed bubble of culture and government that had evolved in the arts and philosophy, but had hardly noticed the increasing modernization, both in science and industry, of Europe and America. Meanwhile in the US, Commodore Perry convinced President Fillmore's administration that it would be advantageous for the US to pry open Japan as a foothold in Asia. Instead of colonizing Japan like the British had done with other Asian countries, the US hoped to open trade with Japan, allow refueling for US whaling ships, and have Japan commit to treating shipwreck sailors better.

Commodore Matthew C. Perry, the man who opened Japan to the world in 1853.

The arrival of Perry's four "kurofune," or black ships, in Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay) on July 8, 1853 caused consternation in the Tokugawa regime, which was already in its declining years. The samurai had never seen such huge steam-powered ships, belching billowing clouds of black smoke and armed with cannons much larger than any of the simpler guns used by Japanese. Perry brought examples of American ingenuity besides just weapons that impressed the Japanese, including a miniature steam locomotive that helped spark Japan's interest in modern industry. He left a letter from Fillmore for the Shogun asking for diplomatic and trade ties, and went on to China.

Perry returned from China to Japan in February, 1854, this time with seven ships and 1600 men, and on March 31 forced the Shogunate government to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa agreeing to the terms laid out by Fillmore. Perry died just a few years later, in 1858, never knowing the full impact of his work. In 1868, the Tokugawa era ended when Emperor Meiji took back control of the country from the military samurai class and embraced the Westernization and modernization of Japan.

The reading of history can be a drab view of the past, but the relationship between Japan and the United States is a vital, living and ever-evolving matrix.

It's flourished in the century and a half since Perry's arrival in Edo Bay. Great disruptions have occurred, including of course the bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War II and the devastating destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from atomic bombs, but the fates of both countries are securely intertwined today in all aspects including culture, politics and economy. In fact, the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the US and the establishment of the Japanese American community would not have been possible without the two countries' friendship. I'm a product of the 150 years of relations between Japan and the US.

The Japanese government seems more aware of this rich, ongoing relationship than the current US administration. Through its consulate offices and ambassador in the US, Japan is commemorating the anniversary of Perry's trips to Japan all this year and through 2004 with special events on both sides of the Pacific and a Web site that lists those events, created by the National Association of Japan America Societies. I hope the US government - and other Americans - also can appreciate this commemoration.

Perry parading into Yokohama to meet with Japanese officials.

When I was eight years old, Matthew C. Perry was just a name on the façade of the elementary school I attended. I didn't care why the school was named after him; I just wanted to suffer through my classes and go home every day and play with my mix of Japanese and American friends.

I guess there's some irony in the fact that Matthew C. Perry Elementary School is on one of the largest US military bases in Japan. The presence of American soldiers and sailors has been an integral part of the ties that bind the two countries together, especially since the post-WWII Occupation. It's also one of the ongoing problematic issues for many Japanese, who see American military bases in Japan - especially the concentration in Okinawa - as a sign that the Occupation has never stopped. In a way, the US has managed to colonize Japan with its military, and with American popular culture, in the last 50 years. I wonder how Perry would react to the current state of the relationship he established.

And what has the US gained? In cold terms Japan is an important economic partner and crucial market of consumers and producers, as well as a strategic cornerstone of our military strength. But Japan is also a cultural wellspring - as much Japanese influence in popular culture, arts and philosophy has been absorbed by the US as the other way around.

Now I understand, and cherish, Perry's significance. The man's legacy is one of the cornerstones of the modern world, and I'm one of the fruits of his journey 150 years ago across the Pacific.

You can read more about the 150th commemoration of US-Japan relations at the official Web site (you can also post your events). For more information on the city of Iwakuni and the Marine Corps Air Station base there where I attended Matthew C. Perry Elementary School, visit the wonderful Web site of the Spencer Family, who lived there from 1996-1999.