ABSTRACT
For over two hundred years Japan had resolutely remained a Hermit Kingdom, until in 1853 and 1854 Commodore Matthew Perry, in command of American warships, entered Yedo (Tokyo) Bay and secured the Shogun’s agreement to open two ports to American ships and permit the presence of Consuls. These ports were Shimoda, on Idzu Peninsula, and Hakodate in the Northern Island of Yezo, a much needed refuge for whalers.
