![]() ![]() Antiforeign elements, including Emperor Komei and a group of young samurai, urged the government not to grant trading rights to the United States. ![]() The Americans were not completely happy with the Kanagawa Treaty either, since the right to trade with Japan was not included, and began almost immediately to demand trading concessions. The treaty did not grant the Americans trading rights, however.Īlthough numerous gifts were exchanged to celebrate the treaty, Japan's leaders were in no real mood to celebrate, and debates raged over future policy toward the United States and other Western countries. The Americans and Japanese signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854, granting the United States access to the ports of Hakodate and Shimoda to provision their ships and providing for the appointment of an American consul at Shimoda. When Perry returned in the spring of 1854, the Japanese offered no resistance and reluctantly gave in to almost all of the American demands. Although some individuals within the Tokugawa government wanted war, most were painfully aware of the military technology gap. Perry's ultimatum caused turmoil within the Japanese government, and a debate raged in the months that followed over what the response should be to the Americans. The commodore then left Japanese waters after promising to return the following spring with a larger and more formidable fleet. demands, including better treatment for shipwrecked sailors and the opening of ports where foreign ships could procure supplies and trade. During his first visit, Perry presented U.S. ![]() The American government also claimed to be concerned about the fate of sailors who were cast ashore in Japan. government wanted to expand Pacific trade, and Japan was considered both an excellent fueling station for China-bound ships and a lucrative potential market. ![]() The United States was interested in opening Japan for several reasons. In the years since Perry first arrived, Japan would become the first Asian nation to modernize, attain world power status, lose a disastrous war, and recover to develop a democratic government and the second-largest economy in the world. Few events in Japan's history have proven as significant as Commodore Perry and his ''black ships,'' as the Japanese called them. ![]()
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