1853 , The moment of fate for Japan will come.
Perry's arrival is.
With the arrival of Perry, the Tokugawa Shogunate collapsed and a new government was established by the Meiji Restoration [ Bakumatsu ] The era begins.
Edo Shogunate's isolation policy
Until now, the Tokugawa Shogunate's foreign policy was basically a seclusion policy, but in reality, some trade with China, Korea, and the Netherlands was open, and envoys also visited.
Therefore, most of the world situation is grasped, and the samurai-centered people got information from Dejima in Nagasaki about how India and China are facing due to the United Kingdom and so on.
Moreover, it is said that the people who run the shogunate already knew via the Dutch that Perry would come from America.
For more than 50 years before Perry's arrival, foreign ships have been arriving in the waters near Japan for various reasons. In 1972, Ruskman from the Russian Empire came to Nemuro, and in 1804 Rezanov visited Nagasaki for trade, but the shogunate refused. In 1837, the Morrison incident occurred in which the Japanese side bombarded an American ship carrying a Japanese drifter and drove it away.
1825 In the Shogunate, foreign ships approaching places other than Nagasaki will be bombarded and driven away Edict to Repel Foreign Ships Was out. But the Opium War Knowing what happened, we are changing our policy to give convenience to foreign ships that are suffering from fuel shortages and food shortages.
However, the seclusion policy did not change, 1844 . The King of the Netherlands preaches the world situation to the Shogunate and advises him to stop the seclusion, but the Shogunate does not do this.
With such a trend, Perry's arrival in 1854 is.
Perry's request to open the country
The purpose of Perry (USA) is to open Japan.
At that time, the United States was actively whaling in the North Pacific to fuel whale oil. Therefore, I wanted to use Japan as a supply base for whaling vessels.
Also, it seems that he wanted to use Japan as a relay station for going directly from the United States to China by steamship.
When we say to Japan from the United States, it feels like we have crossed the Pacific Ocean, but since the steamships at that time could not load enough coal to cross the Pacific Ocean, the route that Perry came to Japan was eastward. It is said that.
Therefore, it is said that it took more than half a year to reach Japan.
It took me half a year to come to Japan, so it seems that Perry didn't intend to withdraw even if he was told that it was useless because the shogunate was a secluded country. Therefore, in order to make this negotiation successful, he did research on Japan in advance.
I also learned that even if I went to Dejima in Nagasaki and requested the opening of the country, I was waiting for a reply from Edo and refused.
As a result of various studies, [ Japanese are polite, but they are weak in authority, so they are limited to threatening ] I came to the conclusion. And the place of arrival is not Nagasaki, but Edo Bay entrance Uraga Appeared in threatened with a cannon It is.
As I wrote a little earlier, the shogunate knew that Perry would come from the Dutch information. However, the officials were surprised to see the American ship that actually came off Uraga.
Only one ship came Not 4 fleets Moreover, two of them were steamships that I had never seen and were one of the largest in the world.
The two ships are made of wood, but the hull is covered with iron, and it looks as if an iron ship is floating. The other two ships were also painted black for antiseptic purposes, so the Japanese are black ships . I called it.
Threatened by the bombardment from such an unfamiliar Black Ship, Perry landed in Uraga and handed over to the Shogunate the letter of the President of the United States demanding the opening of the country.
The shogunate promised to answer the following year to save time.
Conclusion of the Convention of Kanagawa
Perry leaves Japan but does not return to the United States, and a large fleet of seven ships , including three ships that came later after waiting for half a year in Shanghai. Will land in Japan again.
Surprised by this, the Shogunate finally decided to open the country.
At that time, it was the Convention of Kanagawa that I exchanged with Perry who landed in Yokohama. is.
The content is
- Opening of two ports, Shimoda and Hakodate
- Consular station
- Most favored nation treatment * granted to the United States
* Give the signatory countries the same treatment as the best treatment given to other countries
Information on the United States and Japan soon became known to other countries, and in the same year, British fleets and Russian warships also visited Nagasaki. The Shogunate, which can no longer refuse because of isolation, has Britain / Russia, the Netherlands a similar treaty. I tied it up with.
That said, the Convention of Kanagawa Japan has just decided to open the country, but it does not include any trade regulations. For this reason, the resident consul Harris and the Shogunate, who came under the Convention of Kanagawa, negotiated a treaty on trade . Begins.
And 1858 Japan-US Treaty of Amity and Commerce Will be tied.
This treaty has no tariff autonomy in Japan , Recognize American Consular Court Unequal Treaty was. After that, the same treaty was issued Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom, France . Will also conclude a similar treaty.
The loss of authority of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the theory of sonno jōi
With this series of responses, the shogunate, which had been dictatorial politics until then, lost confidence and began to report progress to the imperial court, seek permission to sign treaties, and listen to the opinions of various daimyo. I did.
In response to this confident response, the authority of the shogunate will decline, and on the contrary, the authority of the imperial court will rise sharply.
In response to the foreign policy of the shogunate, public opinion is that if the shogunate is weak, it will push the imperial court and drive away foreigners. ] Will spread.
If you are on the side of the shogunate, you cannot reject Western countries with great military power, and if you do, you will be shot with shells and the town of Edo will be destroyed.
Even that powerful China loses to Britain from the west in the Opium Wars ...
In fact, Naosuke Ii has signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States. Is
"If you refuse the treaty and go to war, and if you lose, you will be defeated, paid compensation, and humiliated. Therefore, it is unavoidable to make a harmless choice.
He said.
Colonization like China I was afraid to be done.
In that sense, this decision may have been good.
However, after that, the times will move to the debate.
We aim to establish a new government that can respond to the world situation in order to defeat the Tokugawa Shogunate, which has completely lost its ability to take charge of the government since the opening of the country. And, Satsuma Domain, Choshu Domain who successfully scooped up this Sonno Joi movement. Will play a central role in the Meiji Restoration in 1868.