The First American Consul
IN 1856, TWO YEARS after Perry’s Japan expeditions, Townsend Harris arrived at Shimoda. As first consul general from the United States, he had two aims: to establish a consulate and to negotiate a trade treaty.
The Japanese were dismayed by his presence, and they begged him to leave. When he refused, they allowed him to settle in one of the temples. Spies followed him everywhere, the natives snubbed him, and for sixteen months he felt isolated. His main companion was a Dutch secretary-interpreter he had brought with him.
Stubborn and courageous—without Perry’s big guns to back him up—Harris used clever diplomacy to gain his objectives. He warned officials that the British were probably scheming to attack Japan, and he constantly referred to the successful battles the British and French were waging in China at that time. Surely it was preferable to yield to the peaceful requests of a consul rather than to an armed fleet of European aggressors!
Harris had in his possession a letter from President Franklin Pierce requesting a trade agreement between the United States and Japan. The Consul insisted upon going to Edo to see the Shogun. In order to induce government advisers to comply with his wishes, Harris offered to reveal a plot hatched by the British against Japan. (He probably referred to the English fleet at Hong Kong that may have schemed to sail to the Land of the Shogun.)
A year after his arrival in Shimoda, Harris was invited to Edo to see the Shogun. Having learned from Perry the importance of pomp and ceremony, he made elaborate preparations for the great event. Forty porters, twelve guardsmen, two standard bearers, two shoe and fan bearers, and two grooms were part of a retinue of 350 men. All except the porters wore silk dresses embroidered with the American coat of arms (the eagle, arrows, olive branch, and motto E pluribus unum). “Daimyo” Harris was carried in a custom-made palanquin, big enough for him to stretch out his legs. It was an elaborate cage suspended from the ground by two poles, which twelve bearers carried on their shoulders. The usual palanquin was small enough for two or four bearers.
In December 1857, the American Consul General had an audience with Shogun Iesada. Although everyone else was down on his knees, Harris stood upright in the presence of the “Tycoon” (Harris’s name for the Shogun). He presented the President’s letter and was informed that the Shogun was pleased with its contents.
However, Harris was not able to negotiate a treaty overnight. There were innumerable meetings with the Shogun’s adviser. By the end of February 1858, a Treaty of Amity and Commerce was drawn up. It permitted full trade, authorized an American representative to live in Edo, and opened additional ports. The treaty was signed by a special assistant to the Shogun, who believed it was in the best interests of Japan. Therefore, he was “determined to accept suffering and punishment for concluding [the treaty] without the Emperor’s sanction.”1
The Fall of the Shogun
The treaty caused a critical rift between supporters of the Emperor and followers of the Shogun. Emperor Komei announced that the treaty was “a blemish on this country which was created and protected by deities…. Since this treaty spells the doom of our nation I cannot in any way sanction it.”2
Fanatics wanted all foreigners thrown out immediately. On the other hand, many scholars insisted that the isolation policy was out of date and could result in war. Japan needed Western culture and commerce to survive as an independent nation.
Activists who opposed shoguns became more and influential. In 1867 the reigning Shogun Keiki resigned. He hoped that by stepping down from office he would unite the country. A year later the fifteen-year-old Emperor was declared the true divine ruler. In 1868 Emperor Meiji’s reign began. He left the imperial grounds in Kyoto and moved to establish his palace at Edo. Edo was renamed Tokyo, which means “Eastern capital.”
Emperor Meiji entering Edo after leaving Kyoto.
courtesy of the New York Public Library, Spencer Collection
Emperor Meiji’s rule brought Japan out of the feudal past and into the modern industrial world. Scholars were sent abroad to study, and foreign advisers were welcome. Within five years all castes were outlawed. Daimyos surrendered lands and privileges they had enjoyed for a thousand years. They turned their estates over to the Emperor, who awarded them generous pensions as compensation. The samurai class was abolished. Laws forbade the traditional warriors from wearing swords. Even their top-knot hairdos were prohibited. The government awarded them modest pensions. Surprisingly, they transferred their loyalty from their daimyos to the Emperor with little protest.
Emperor Meiji
courtesy of the Heibonsha Press
For the first time in centuries people were able to choose the type of work they wished to do. They could live wherever they wished, and there were no longer set rules about the types of homes, possessions, and clothing they were allowed. The Emperor set a new style: After 1872 he wore Western clothing.
This Japanese chart explains how to dress like a Westerner.
courtesy of the Heibonsha Press
The jump from feudalism to a modern industrial society took place with astounding speed and ease. Historians still marvel at the quick change that took place without foreign or civil war.
Commodore Perry broke down barriers that separated Japan from the rest of the world. Today the Japanese celebrate his expeditions with annual Black Ships festivals. At Shimoda, where feudal warriors once mobilized against the Yankee barbarians, parades, speeches, and music honor Perry in May. At Kanagawa, where the treaty was signed, people enjoy their Black Ships festival in July. They commemorate the Commodore who brought them peacefully into a world that never would have permitted them to continue their isolation.
Commodore Perry lived in Newport, Rhode Island, which celebrates a Black Ships festival in July. In Perry’s honor, Newport has become Shimoda’s sister city.
reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress