Europe at the periphery of the Japanese world order

In the English School's interpretation, the history of societal relations with the non-European world and the (European) international society typically begins in the late-nineteenth century on the back of European imperialism. The story of Japan's entry into European international society is no exception to this. Prior to 1853, when US Navy Commodore Perry forced Japan to open its borders to the Western powers, Japan is said to have entered a period of ‘seclusion’ during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), refusing all contact with the West, except for Holland.