Matthew Calbrath Perry Impact On Japan

Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, born April 10, 1794, is credited for opening American trade with Japan. Prior to his expedition to Japan, he gained a wide range of experience in the navy, through various global expeditions. It was through these expeditions that those in higher ranks saw his capabilities and tasked Commodore Perry with the mission of opening trade with Japan. Strategically, the United States saw that opening trade with Japan was crucial as it did two things: firstly, it gave their ships a place to restock and refuel while traveling to China, who was already a trade partner of theirs, and it would also help establish America as a power in East Asia, enabling them to be competitive with other European nations that were also

Foreign language and technology teachers were hired by the Bakfu and Han long before Perry’s expedition, which gave the Japanese basic understandings of the Western world. As Japan was notorious for its strict seclusion policy, Commodore Perry was met by surprise by the fact that Japan had been exposed to the West beyond expectation (Jones). As a result, Japan was more diplomatically strategic and cautious when negotiating with the United States, knowing the dire consequences they could face through any blunders. Additionally, much of those who received education from these Western teachers were of the Samurai class, the principle negotiators with the United States (Jones). Because these people were the most knowledgeable about the West conducted the negotiations, they could make the most educated moves during discussions, effectively making the most out of the treaty. Furthermore, the Japanese’s knowledge of the Dutch language greatly increased the efficiency of negotiations. Since almost no Westerners spoke English, all talks between Japan and the United States had to use Dutch as the intermediary language, meaning Japanese was translated into Dutch, which was in turn translated into English, and vice versa (Miyoshi). The fact that the Japanese spoke Dutch was critical in conducting

One disagreement was over the location of their negotiations (Perry 155). As discussed before, Perry was persistent on staying in Uraga, despite Japan’s difference in opinion. Although Perry’s intentions were to gain the upper hand in the negotiations, this action hindered the progress of negotiations between the two countries. Further, Perry and Japanese officials also disagreed on who should receive Fillmore’s letter (Jones). Again, Perry made the demand that the letter be handed to the Emperor, which would have been logistically difficult to do. This dispute also resulted in the diminishment of time, which could have been avoided. Lastly, there were two layers of translation while the two parties communicated, the intermediary language being Dutch (Miyoshi). While the fact that both parties spoke Dutch significantly aided the process, as negotiation would be impossible otherwise, this method was time consuming and prone to translation errors. Different factors, both within and beyond the control of Japan and the United States, led to some losses in