SHORTLY AFTER COMMODORE PERRY’S SHIPS sailed away, the Shogun’s advisers distributed translations of President Fillmore’s letter to all the daimyos and asked for their opinions. This was unprecedented. Never before had a Tokugawa government asked feudal lords for advice. But the shogunate realized that while the country was in no position to defend itself against a foreign power, it could not maintain a seclusion policy without risking war. The Shogun’s councillors hoped that the daimyos would recommend a treaty with the Americans, and therefore take the responsibility for ending isolation.
The daimyos consulted scholarly samurai before writing recommendations. A few welcomed trade with the United States, while some wanted to postpone the decisions so the country could strengthen its defenses. Others insisted upon maintaining the country’s complete isolation, even if it meant war.
“Revere the Emperor; Repel the Barbarian” was a slogan that rallied support for activists who opposed the Shogun. These radical isolationists wanted to overthrow him and restore the Emperor to power. They believed that the Shogun had “lost face” when he allowed foreigners to land on sacred soil. He no longer deserved a title that meant “barbarian expelling generalissimo.”
This old Japanese map of the world reads “From Japan, North America is about 500 ri [Japanese miles] distant with no countries between. Holland is 13,000 ri distant. Countries of women only, pygmies, and one-eyed people are respectively 14,000, 15,000 and 17,000 ri distant.” A North American is pictured in the upper right hand corner.
reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress
Aizawa Seishisai, one of the leaders of the anti-Shogun faction, wrote, “Our Divine Land is situated at the top of the earth. The Americans occupy the hindmost region of the earth. Thus its people are stupid and simple.” According to his geography, all Western countries occupied “the lowly organs of the legs and feet of the world.”1 He warned that these feet trampled on other countries. If the barbarians were permitted to trade, they would try to victimize Japan the way Britain had victimized China during the Opium War (1839—1842) when their warships had bombed and captured Chinese cities, forced China to open ports, and made Hong Kong a British Crown Colony.
A samurai dressed in armor
courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bashford Dean Memorial Collection
One of the daimyos, the Prince of Mito, melted temple bells in order to cast new cannons. He sent a number of these to Edo to be used against the Americans, stating, “If we don’t drive them away now, we shall never have another opportunity.”2
“Eastern Ethics, Western Science” was the motto of scholars who favored an American treaty. They admired the West because of its accomplishments in science, industry, and armaments. They reasoned that the government’s financial problems might be remedied by overseas trade. And they realized that their country’s poorly trained army and old-fashioned cannons were no match for Perry’s precision-drilled soldiers and his modern weapons. The group advocated opening Japan’s doors to America and other foreign countries.
Yoshida Shoin, a samurai who was one of their leaders, was convinced that Japan must learn Western technology as quickly as possible, yet still hold on to the moral values of Japanese civilization. He studied “Dutch learning” at Nagasaki, and yearned for a chance to travel and obtain first-hand information from the West, which he would use to enlighten his countrymen.3
The Emperor was given a copy of President Fillmore’s letter. This was most unusual, for the divine ruler of the Land of the Rising Sun was not supposed to be bothered with current events. But the government was so distressed at the crisis caused by the Black Ships that it hoped the Emperor would ask the gods for help.
When Emperor Komei saw a copy of the letter, he exclaimed that the barbarians should never again be allowed on Japan’s sacred soil. After ordering priests to conduct special worship services at the Shrine of Ise dedicated to the sun goddess, he offered his own prayers, requesting a kamikaze (“divine wind”) hurricane that would smash the American ships. (A heavy gale did make the going rough for Perry’s fleet, one day after it left Japan.)
Emperor Komei
courtesy of the Heibonsha Press
The Shogun’s advisers were in a quandary. They realized that they could not wage a successful war against the Americans. Yet they feared that signing a treaty could mean the collapse of their government. However, as a precaution, they repealed the law against building large ships and ordered several warships from the Dutch. They also turned for advice to a Japanese who had lived in America for ten years.
The Japanese-American
Manjiro had been a poor fisherboy of fourteen when he was shipwrecked on a deserted island. An American whaler rescued him, and the ship’s captain adopted him, brought him to Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and enrolled him in school under the name of John Mung. (Manjiro sounded too foreign and was hard to pronounce.) He subsequently became first mate on a whaler and took part in the California gold rush, where he managed to dig up a modest amount of pay dirt.
Manjiro loved America, but he became homesick and yearned to see his mother again. He arranged for a ship to drop him off at Nagasaki. He risked his life, aware that Japan’s Exclusion Edict decreed that “He shall be executed who went to a foreign country and later returned home.”
When he arrived at Nagasaki, Manjiro was imprisoned and had to stamp on the cross as proof that he had no intention of practicing Christianity. He stood trial eighteen times! However, because of his vast knowledge of America, he was considered too valuable to kill. Not only was he released, he was made a samurai.
After Perry arrived, the Shogun sent for Manjiro, the only man in the realm with first-hand knowledge of the United States. Although some members of the government wanted him to be the official interpreter at the Treaty House, others opposed this. They insisted Manjiro must not be permitted to meet the Americans. They felt he was too sympathetic to the United States because he had been treated so well by the barbarians “he owes a debt of gratitude to them.”4
He told the Shogun’s councillors that “it has been a long cherished desire on the part of America to establish friendly relations” and that “they [the Americans] have no desire to take land from another country.”5 He described the aliens as “sturdy, vigorous, capable and warmhearted people.” But he cautioned the Shogun that “there are hardly any foreign weapons that can frighten Americans out of their wits.”6
Manjiro’s descriptions of life in America entertained, intrigued, and changed the attitude of his superiors toward the “foreign devils.” He took some of the mystery away from the exotic lands of North America by reporting strange customs. The following remarks of Manjiro are recorded in official documents:
When a young man wants to marry he looks for a young woman for himself without asking a go-between to find one for him.
For their wedding ceremony, the Americans merely make a proclamation to the gods, and become married, after which they usually go on a sightseeing trip to the mountains. They are lewd by nature, but otherwise well-behaved.
American men and women make love openly. [They kiss in public.]
A man takes off his hat when paying a visit. He never bows…he sits on a chair instead of the floor.
It is customary to read books in the toilet.
American women have quaint customs. For instance, some of them make a hole through the lobes of their ears and run a gold or silver ring through this hole as an ornament.
The women do not use rouge, powder, and the like.
A mother…gives of all things, cow’s milk as a substitute for mother’s milk. But it is true that no ill effects of this strange habit have been reported.7
Many historians are positive that Manjiro’s influence helped bring about America’s treaty with Japan. Were it not for him, Perry’s mission might have failed. Even though he was not allowed to leave Edo, Manjiro played a vital role during all subsequent negotiations.8
A Superb View of the United States Squadron, Under the Command of Commodore Perry, Bound for the East shows the fleet that returned to Japan on February 13, 1854.
courtesy of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library