Part Two: The arrival of the black ships 1853-54 East meets West: Japan Part Two: The arrival of the black ships 1853-54

Review: the Tokugawa era Power was in Edo (Tokyo), the home of the Tokugawa family Emperor lived in Kyoto Isolation from the West but Perry forces Japan to open up ports Samurai the elite but becoming administrators Daimyo lords rule regions (han) but are becoming more independent

Baku-han system – decentralised power Over 250 Daimyos have great autonomy Many are ignoring directions from Edo Do you know other countries where politics is decentralised? Advantages and disadvantages of decentralisation?

Threats to the system Russia, Britain, France apply pressure for trade treaties Financial strain on Samurai and Daimyo Ronin Conflict between Daimyo and Shogun Identify the threats above that are internal to Japan and those that are external

Cracks in the class system Samurai had status but lacked a clear role Merchants were becoming increasingly wealthy but had little status and power But the classes were now mixing Rich merchants could buy into lower ranks of samurai

Can they stay cut off from the world? Seclusion or Sakoku helped social stability But is it realistic? Write 3 disadvantages in bullet point form

Commodore Mathew Perry Arrived in Edo 1853 – told to go to Nagasaki He refused – threatened Edo with bombardment Presented letter from the US President Fillmore demanding a trade treaty Returned in 1854 with double the fleet – gunboat diplomacy

What Did the U. S. Want?? Coaling stations. More trading partners. A haven for ship-wrecked sailors.

Read Letter from President Filmore

Perry’s “Black Ships”

1853-54 – Commodore Matthew Perry “Opens Up” Japan to Western Trade!

An Unequal Treaty? Convention of Kanagawa 1854 – diplomatic relations Five years later – treaties with most European nations Some Samurai deeply resented (hated) these “unequal” (unfair) treaties forced on Japan

The Treaty of Kanagawa - 1854

March 31, 1854: Treaty of Kanagawa Terms? Peace and friendship between the United States and Japan. 2. Opening of two ports to American ships 3. Help for any American ships wrecked on the Japanese coast and protection for shipwrecked persons 4. Permission for American ships to buy supplies, coal, water, and other necessary provisions in Japanese ports.

What are some reasons? “Why do you think the Shogun agreed to sign the Kanagawa Treaty in 1854?”

After Perry: foreign traders and the Yokohama Treaty After the Tokugawa treaties opened Japanese ports to European powers, many ronin become xenophobic - the result of feelings of: threat, lost culture, fierce pride, social change, and / or new commercial values

Great number of foreigners arrived to Yokohama, their arrogance and independent behaviour gave rise to trouble with the samurai Murders of foreigners and collaborative Japanese occurred

Japan learns from China In 1862, Tokugawa sent officials and scholars to China to study the situation there. A Japanese recorded in his diary when in Shanghai… “The Chinese have become servants to the foreigners. Sovereignty may belong to China but in fact it's no more than a colony of Great Britain and France.”

China’s “Unequal Treaties” After the Opium Wars many in the Shogun’s government were convinced that it had to open up to the West or face the fate of China