7/23/2019 The Treaty of Kanagawa

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The Treaty of Kanagawa: Setting the Stage for Japanese-AmericanRelations

On March 31, 1854, the first treaty between Japan and the United States was signed. TheTreaty was the resut !f an enc!unter between

an eab!ratey panned "issi!n t! !pen Japanand an unwa#ering p!icy by Japan$sg!#ern"ent !f f!rbidding c!""erce with f!reignnati!ns. Tw! nati!ns regarding each !ther as%barbarians% f!und a way t! reach agree"ent.

The United States &!#ern"ent was deter"inedt! ta'e the ead in bringing Japan$s tw!(century(!d p!icy !f sef(i"p!sed is!ati!n t! a c!se.The )i"!re ad"inistrati!n sent *!""!d!reMatthew *. +erry and a s"a feet !f s!!ps andthe atest stea"(p!wered ships t! g! t! d!

-T!'y! /ay t! insist !n a treaty that w!udpr!tect the rights !f 0"erican whaers, pr!#idef!r c!aing p!rts, and e#entuay ead t! trade.

+erry achie#ed tw! !f his three centra !becti#es by i"pr!#ing 0"erica$s access t! strategicenergy res!urces. 2e succeeded in getting tw! c!aing p!rts f!r the a#y$s new stea"shipsand in pr!tecting 0"erica$s !i w!r'ers -the whaers. 2e did n!t, h!we#er, !pen Japan t! trade.t wasn$t unti 1858 that the U.S. *!nsu at ast achie#ed +erry$s fina !becti#e estabishing ac!""ercia treaty.

One interesting feature is the !"issi!n !f a Japanese signature !n the ngish anguage #ersi!n!f the treaty. +erry$s etter t! the a#y Secretary, as! in the h!dings !f the 0rchi#es, !ffers an

e6panati!n %t wi be !bser#ed that the practice usuay pursued in affi6ing signatures t!treaties was departed fr!" !n this !ccasi!n, and f!r reas!n assigned by the Japanese, thattheir aws f!rbade the subects !f the "pire fr!" putting their na"es t! any d!cu"ent writtenin a f!reign anguage.% The "issing signature de"!nstrates that +erry$s deter"inati!n t!achie#e "issi!n !becti#es was te"pered by a wiingness t! c!"pr!"ise !n issues !f cust!".

The seeds !f tensi!ns and c!nficts which w!ud figure pr!"inenty in the first century !f theJapanese(0"erican reati!nship are e#ident in the Treaty !f 7anagawa . et in the fact thatwarri!r9dip!"ats !n b!th sides were abe t! put aside their cann!ns and sw!rds !ng en!ugh t!reach this acc!rd, we as! see the p!tentia f!r tw! cutures t! find "utua understanding, andwe find the r!!ts !f a peacefu strategic aiance that has asted f!r "!re than 5: years.