Commodore Perry's Black Ships: Naha to Shimoda

On 26 May 1853 the fleet anchored off Naha, the port of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and Perry went up to Shuri Castle. The court refused to let weapons or soldiers inside, so he entered with only a few disarmed officers. They were served tea and sweets in the Hokuden hall, and the president's letter urging Japan to open up was handed over, but Perry was never given an audience with the king. Shuri Castle stands again on its hill above Naha.

Visitor guidance: Shuri Castle Park is a public park in Naha.

At five in the afternoon of 8 July 1853, four warships, two of them steamships, dropped anchor off Uraga, and Japanese onlookers called them kurofune, black ships. They carried 73 guns between them and were ready for a fight. Nakajima Saburosuke of the Uraga magistrate's office went out first. Perry refused to go on to Nagasaki and said that if no fitting high official took the letter, he would sail to Edo with force. On 11 July survey boats pushed some 20 km into Edo Bay, and on 12 July the shaken shogunate agreed to receive the letter.

Location precision: The ships anchored offshore; the pin marks the site of the Uraga magistrate's office, the local authority that met them.

On 14 July 1853 Perry came ashore at Kurihama, a cove next to Uraga, and handed the American president's letter to the Japanese side. Troops from four domains guarded the coast. Forty-eight years later a stone monument went up on the landing site; it was unveiled on 14 July 1901 before warships of both navies and Prime Minister Katsura Tarō. Its inscription was written by Ito Hirobumi. Today the site is Perry Park, with the monument and the Perry Memorial Museum, opened in 1987.

Visitor guidance: Perry Park is a public park by Kurihama harbour, with the museum inside.

Perry returned in 1854 with a larger fleet. After weeks of haggling the two sides compromised on the tiny village of Yokohama, where a hall was built for the talks. Perry landed on 8 March with 500 sailors and Marines. Gifts were exchanged, among them a miniature steam locomotive. On 31 March 1854 he signed the Convention of Kanagawa, opening Shimoda and Hakodate to American ships. Today the Yokohama Archives of History stands here, and its courtyard tree, shown in prints of Perry's arrival, is a city historic site.

Location precision: The negotiating hall was temporary; the pin marks the Archives, where a tree at the treaty site survives.

Visitor guidance: The Yokohama Archives of History is a short walk from Nihon-Odori station, Minatomirai line.

The treaty opened Shimoda, so talks continued in this temple, founded in 1635. On 17 June 1854 the two sides settled the details of the treaty in 13 articles, the Shimoda Convention. The first exchange rate between Japanese and American money was also fixed in the negotiations here. Ryōsen-ji is now a national historic site. The Black Ships museum, MoBS, is next to it.

Visitor guidance: A working temple in the middle of Shimoda; the MoBS Black Ships museum is next door.

The 1854 treaties named this Shimoda temple as a rest place and burial ground for Americans. Five American crewmen were buried here in the 1850s. From August 1856 to May 1859 the temple housed the American consulate general, with Townsend Harris as consul general. Each mid-May, during Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, the US Navy holds a memorial service at the graves.

Visitor guidance: A working temple; the Harris memorial hall and the graves are on the grounds.