Japan / USA: A Japanese painting of the USS Susquehanna, flagship of Commodore Perry's 'Black Ships' Tokyo Bay, 8 July 1853

The Perry Expedition was a U.S. naval and diplomatic expedition to Japan, involving two separate trips to and from Japan by ships of the United States Navy, which took place during 1853–54. The expedition was commanded by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry. It resulted in the opening of Japan to American and international trade, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the western 'Great Powers'.

Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794–1858) was a senior-ranking officer in the navy of the United States of America, who was assigned the command of a U.S.N. expedition to the "far east" in 1853. The goals of this expedition included exploration, surveying, and the establishment of diplomatic relations and negotiation of trade agreements with various nations of the region; opening contact with the government of Japan was considered a top priority of the expedition, and was one of the key reasons for its inception.

The Tokugawa shogunate had virtually isolated Japan from Western countries, and severely restricted contact with even near-neighbors such as China, since the early-mid 1600s; a policy known as Sakoku. It had resisted, sometimes by force, attempts by Americans and Europeans to establish business and diplomatic ties.

On July 8, 1853, Perry sailed into an officially hostile, but militarily unprepared, Japan with four warships. He led a U.S. mission which sought to begin diplomatic and trade relations, and to ensure the safety of Americans shipwrecked in Japan. Perry intimidated the Japanese by threatening to bombard their cities. He presented Japanese officials with a letter from U.S. President Millard Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan, proposing peace and friendship; at the time, the complex political relationship between the Emperor and the shogunate was not well understood by western governments.

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