Scott Abel First Contact: The Meeting Between the United States and Japan

The first official contact between the Japanese and American governments sparked an important relationship and helped bring Japan into the world as a significant nation in global affairs. The way that the Japanese and the Americans viewed each other made Japan a more aggressive state, which led Japan closer to conflict with her neighbors and eventually western states. Japan constantly tried to prove herself as a global power to the world, but would still be viewed as a lesser nation by the western powers. Commodore Perry and his expedition made an impression of the Japanese that Japan constantly tried to erase. The United States saw itself as an industrialized nation helping foster a reinvigorated Japan that would become modernized. Many Japanese thought themselves to be superior to the United States, despite the western innovations that Japan had not fully adopted yet. Japan modernized to help bring about security for her people, prestige, and respect amongst the West. With this increased security, Japan became a more modern militaristic state, which would eventually seek domination over foreign territories. Upon the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in Japan, he made some observations about the Japanese people and customs. Members of the American expedition viewed the Japanese officials as shrewd, wise, curious and inquisitive, but also as deceitful, secretive and even infantile. Perry noticed how the Japanese investigated his warships and examined the ships with the utmost scrutiny. The Japanese measured and sketched the Americans equipment and possessions. Perhaps the Japanese did this in an

attempt to learn how to develop such materials themselves.1 According to Francis Hawks, Japan was a child state; he writes, She is the youngest sister in the circle of commercial nations. Let those who are older kindly take her by the hand and aid her tottering steps, until she has reached a vigor that will enable her to walk firmly in her own strength.2 The Japanese would be very displeased to find that their proud nation with centuries of history was compared to a feeble child requiring a helping hand. The United States Government saw Japan as a backward nation in need of assistance and was willing to help Japan reap the benefits of an industrial society. However, the United States expected Japan to act as a nation of less-importance in global affairs than the western nations. United States Ambassador Townsend Harris suggested that in the future, increased Japanese revenue might lead to the maintenance of a respectable navy. However, a respectable navy can be interpreted as being weaker than that of the United States. The United States was willing to modernize the nation, but did not conceive of Japan surpassing the great powers of the age.3 The nations of the West looked down upon the jurisprudence system of the Japanese as being barbaric and were not willing to subject their citizens to it. No nation of western civilization was willing to accept the rule of a nation that had made Christianity an illegal religion. Since Japan did not use western judicial principals such habeas-corpus and trial by jury, Europe and the United States refused to have their citizens live under Japanese authority. The exemption of westerners from Japanese laws frustrated the Japanese and they became determined to
1

Matthew Perry, The Personal Journal of Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 90-97. New York: Bedford, 1997.
2

Hawks, Francis, Official Report of the Perry Expedition, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 99. New York: Bedford, 1997.
3

Townshend Harris, The Complete Journal of Townshend Harris, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 119. New York: Bedford, 1997.

reverse this humiliation.4 Japan was sick of being looked down upon by the western powers for being different from them and would try desperately to undo the unfairness of the wests treatment towards Japan. The Japanese resented being looked down upon as mere children. Many Japanese were upset over how the Americans thought themselves as superior to them, but the Japanese considered themselves to be a more glorious and cultivated society. There was a belief amongst some of the Japanese that the Americans were not needed and that their country was superior to the United States. Such beliefs were demonstrated in A Comic Dialogue from around 1855, where there is dialogue between a xenophobic catfish representing Japanese conservatives and America.5 Japanese officials thought that their nation was superior to the west, despite the lack of Japanese industrialization. One Japanese official, Muragaki Norimasa considered these Americans to be barbarians for their strange habits and customs upon visiting the United States in 1860. Muragaki Norimasa wrote, Suffer the folk of a foreign land to look upon this glory of our Eastern Empire of Japan. Forgetting their meek ignorance, how proudly today shine the countenances of Japans Embassy.6 Muragaki considered Japan to be a glorious empire that the west should admire and respect. Despite Americas industrial, commercial and military might, the Japanese still thought the Americans were

William Griffis, The Mikados Empire, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 201. New York: Bedford, 1997.
5

A Comic Dialogue, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 110. New York: Bedford, 1997.
6

Muragaki Norimasa, Diary of a Voyage abroad, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 154-159. New York: Bedford, 1997.

barbarians. This disrespect for the United States, the rest of the western powers and the arrogance the Japanese Government eventually caused friction in Japans foreign affairs. Japan sought to gain prestige in order to gain the respect of the Western powers, so they could be treated as equals rather than a semi-civilized state. II Naosuke was a high-ranking shogunate official who believed that Japan must have a modern commercial and military system. II wished for the development of a modern merchant marine that could use steam-power and deliver Japanese goods abroad to places such as the United States, the Netherlands, and Russia. II also wanted to develop and organize a powerful navy with the help of the Dutch. Then the Japanese would master how to fire and maintain artillery, navigation, handling navigation, and other tasks essential to seafaring. II concluded, Our defenses thus strengthened, and all being arranged at home, we can act so as to make our courage and prestige resound beyond the seas. By so doing, we will not in the future be imprisoning ourselves; indeed, we will be able, I believe, so to accomplish matters at home and abroad as to achieve national security.7 This demonstrates how the Japanese Government was determined to become a significant power in the world and to gain prestige for the state. There were some very militant members within the Tokugawa shogunate, who advocated the use of modernization in order to expel unwanted foreigners. One daimyo named Tokugawa Nariaki sought to militarily strengthen Japan in order to prevent foreign incursions into Japan. Tokugawa Nariaki believed that war was the best way to prevent the collapse of the Japanese State. Tokugawa Nariaki believed that it was necessary to fight a war against America, because it would otherwise be impossible to
7

II Naosuke, Memorial on the American Demand for a Treaty, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 101. New York: Bedford, 1997.

protect Japans prestige. Tokugawa Nariaki condemned trading with West for luxuries and believed that Japans silver and gold should help pay for the military. Since, Japan had signed a treaty with America, and then the Japanese would be forced to sign treaties with the rest of the western powers. According to Tokugawa Nariaki, fighting the Europeans and Americans would boost morale amongst the populace as they resisted the forceful openings. Daimyo Tokugawa wished to spread the prestige of Japan abroad so that the west would respect Japan and so that Japan could remain as it had during the medieval era. Daimyo Tokugawa firmly believed that we [the Japanese] must never choose a policy of peace and that militarism was key to Japanese success.8 Unlike II Naosuke, Daimyo Tokugawa Nariaki wished to militarize Japan to a state of preparedness and expel the foreigners immediately rather than developing a modern military over a long period of time with the assistance of some Americans and Europeans. However, both concurred in that they believe in using a military to force the West to keep it from dominating Japanese policy. Although, in doing so the West would not accept a militarily superior Japan or respect the Japanese military without severe tension and friction. If Japan wished to gain the respect of the west, it needed to gain it not just through militarization, but through political and economic reforms. Whereas the Japanese of the late Tokugawa era came to believe that building an effective military would force the West to either negotiate more fair treaties or leave Japan completely alone. The latter of which would have been extremely unlikely, if not impossible. A strategy of militarization and a feeling of resentment did not directly cause war, but it

Tokugawa Nariaki, Memorial on the American Demand for a Treaty, in The Japanese Discovery of America, A Brief History with Documents, edited by Peter Duus, 103-5. New York: Bedford, 1997.

lead Japan to be more likely to use conflict as a means of acting in interests of the Japanese State. Gradually, after the first contact between the United States and Japan, Japan began to industrialize as the West hoped. But Japan resented being characterized as a semi-civilized society and how the west used its leverage to force the Japanese into giving up the right to arrest and put to trial suspects of crimes committed in Japan. The Japanese disliked being characterized as children and hoped through militarization that they might be able to gain the respect of the West. Although this did not outright cause war with any nation, it caused Japan to move on the track that would eventually lead to conflict.