The initial Japan-US treaties opened the port of Edo and four other Japanese cities to American trade.[2] In 2010, the sesquicentennial commemorated the extent to which the Japanese ambassadors and their party affected subsequent bilateral relations between the two countries.
Commemorative events
San Francisco
SF logo
A plaque marking the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Japanese ship Kanrin Maru was dedicated March 17, 2010 at Pier 9 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.[3] This ceremony was the first in a year-long series of commemorative events. The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco organized an exhibit in conjunction with the anniversary. The exhibit, "Japan’s Early Ambassadors to San Francisco, 1860–1927," ran from May through November 2010. Among the items displayed were gifts from the Japanese diplomatic mission and sketches of San Francisco drawn by one of the samurai of the delegation.[4]
The Japanese Consulate sponsored a lecture by Prof. Naoyuki Agawa of Keio University about the Kanrin Maru, which was the first Japanese naval vessel to cross the Pacific Ocean. The ship transported the first Japanese diplomatic delegation, including Fukuzawa Yukichi, Katsu Kaishū, and Nakahama Manjirō. This was the first Japanese ship to enter the port of San Francisco.[5]
Seattle
Five “Akebono” cherry trees were planted at Elliott Bay Park to commemorate the anniversary of the first official visit of Japanese diplomats in 1860.[6]
When the Japanese diplomatic delegation visited Philadelphia in 1860, one of the highlights was a demonstration of the previously unknown Japanese version of chess or shogi. This is the first recorded game of shogi ever to be played outside Japan. In commemoration, shogi experts and representatives of the Philadelphia chess community, including former U.S. Champions in both shogi and chess, came together for a "chess event" at the Philadelphia Athenaeum.[7]
New York
NYC logo
A parade of "samurai" was a modified reenactment in New York's Central Park to commemorate a procession up Broadway in New York City. The sesquicentennial parade recalled the procession of horse-drawn carriages bringing Japan's first diplomatic mission uptown from the Battery. In 1860, the route ended at a reviewing stand in Union Square where dignitaries were seated.
The Museum of the City of New York organized an exhibit, "Samurai in New York: The First Japanese Delegation, 1860," continuing from June through October. Rare 19th-century photographs and newspaper engravings document the two weeks. Also on display are a unique group of objects lent by Japanese institutions; and these both record and recall the experience in New York as it appeared from the Japanese viewpoint.[8]
In partnership with the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, the Museum presented a lecture by Prof. Naoyuki Agawa, who discussed the significance of the 150th anniversary of the diplomatic mission. His special focus on the two weeks that the delegation visited New York.[9]
The Empire State Building in New York City was lit up in red and white on Wednesday night, June 16, 2010. This marked the 150th anniversary of the arrival in the city of Japan's first diplomatic mission to the United States on June 16, 1860. The top part of the 443.2-meter skyscraper was lit up in the colors of the Japanese flag at sunset to celebrate the occasion.[10]
Bilateral relations
Events focusing on bilateral relations were encompassed conferences which brought together scholars, businessmen and policy-makers:
150 Years of Amity & 50 Years of Alliance
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) organized a two-day conference, "150 Years of Amity & 50 Years of Alliance: Adopting an Enhanced Agenda for the U.S.-Japan Partnership." The conference was developed in partnership with the Nippon Foundation, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the Ocean Policy Research Foundation. The meeting brings together leading American and Japanese policymakers and experts to discuss the military, economic, political, and strategic elements of the alliance.[11] Featured speakers include:
Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State and member of the CNAS Board of Directors
The Japan Society of Northern California and others sponsored the "Kanrin Maru Symposium: The Future of the US-Japan Relationship," in May 2010.[12] Featured participants included:
↑ Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco: Agawa lecture, anniversary of arrival of Kanrin MaruArchived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine ; the lecture was presented twice, first in San Francisco and then in San Jose. It was also supported by the Executive Committee for the 150th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Kanrin Maru in San Francisco, the Japan Society of Northern California, the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, the Japanese American Association of Northern California and San Jose State University.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kanrin Maru Symposium; Archived 2010-07-10 at the Wayback Machine Co-sponsored by Asia Society Northern California, The Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, Japan Policy Research Institute, JETRO San Francisco, USF Center for the Pacific Rim, and World Affairs Council; and supported by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco.
Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called ishin shishi and the shogunate forces, which included the elite shinsengumi swordsmen.
The first USS Powhatan was a sidewheel steam frigate in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Powhatan, a Native American chief of eastern Virginia. She was one of the last, and largest, of the United States Navy's paddle frigates.
Count Katsu Yasuyoshi, best known by his nickname Katsu Kaishū, was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy by Sakuma Shōzan. He went through a series of given names throughout his life; his childhood name was Rintarō (麟太郎). He was often called Awa (安房) from his title Awano-kami (安房守) during the late Tokugawa shogunate and later changed his name to Yasuyoshi after the Meiji Restoration.
Kanrin Maru(咸臨丸, Unyielding) was Japan's first sail and screw-driven steam corvette. She was ordered in 1853 from the Netherlands, the only Western country with which Japan had diplomatic relations throughout its period of sakoku (seclusion), by the shōgun's government, the Bakufu. She was delivered on September 21, 1857, by Lt. Willem Huyssen van Kattendijke of the Dutch navy. The ship was used at the newly established Naval School of Nagasaki in order to build up knowledge of Western warship technology.
Townsend Harris was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the "Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the diplomat who first opened Shogunate Japan to foreign trade and culture in the Edo period.
The Japanese Embassy to the United States was dispatched in 1860 by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu). Its objective was to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan, in addition to being Japan's first diplomatic mission to the United States since the 1854 opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew Perry.
Kaiwo Maru is a Japanese four-masted training barque tall ship. She was built in 1989 to replace a 1930 ship of the same name. She is 110.09 m (361.2 ft) overall, with a beam of 13.80 m (45.3 ft) and a depth of 10.70 m (35.1 ft). She is assessed as 2,556 GT. Propulsion is by two 4-cylinder diesel engines and a total of 2,760 m2 (29,700 sq ft) of sails. The engines have a total power of 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) and can propel the ship at a maximum of 14.1 kn, with a normal service maximum of 13 kn. Kaiwo Maru has a range of 9,800 nmi. The four masts are the fore mast, main mast, mizzen mast and jigger mast. The main mast is 43.50 m (142.7 ft). Her complement is 199.
Tatsuta Maru (龍田丸), was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). The ship was built in 1927–1929 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel was named after Tatsuta Jinja an important Shinto shrine in Nara Prefecture.
A de facto embassy is an office or organisation that serves de facto as an embassy in the absence of normal or official diplomatic relations among countries, usually to represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition, regions or dependencies of countries, or territories over which sovereignty is disputed. In some cases, diplomatic immunity and extraterritoriality may be granted.
Douglas W. Shorenstein was a San Francisco-based real estate developer and former chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Japan–Mexico relations are the diplomatic relations between Japan and Mexico. Both nations are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, CPTPP, G-20 major economies, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations.
Japan–Spain relations refers to the bilateral relations between Japan and Spain. Both nations are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Bankichi Matsuoka was a Japanese naval officer in the Tokugawa Navy during the Boshin War, serving as Captain of the Japanese warship Banryū during the Battle of Hakodate.
Japanese Cemetery was founded in 1901 and is located at 1300 Hillside Boulevard in Colma, California. This cemetery has brought together the Japanese community in California and has worked with Buddhist, Shinto, and Christian religious organizations.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
