The visits of Commodore Perry’s squadron to Japan in 1853 and 1854,
bearing President Fillmore’s letter asking for the opening of trade
relations, were the prelude. Commodore Perry secured the first treaty,
on March 31, 1854. More important was the commercial treaty (July
29, 1858) negotiated by Townsend Harris, first American Minister to
Japan. This treaty opened five Japanese ports to Americans for trade
and residence, and--like the treaties with China--provided for a fixed
tariff schedule and extraterritoriality. It was the model for similar
agreements, also concluded in 1858, with England, France, Russia and
Holland. All of these treaties were signed by the Shogun, but not by
the Emperor. Later, as the Emperor’s power grew, the opposition sought
to prevent application of the treaties on the ground that the Emperor
had not ratified them. In November 1865, however, an Allied naval
demonstration off Osaka forced the Emperor to give his signature.
Finally, in June 1866, a tariff convention set 5 per cent as the duty
on practically all imports and exports.
We shall have to return to these treaties a little later. For soon
after the Restoration of the Emperor, they became a galling yoke to the
Japanese. The tariff and extraterritorial provisions, in particular,
were resented as shackles on the full exercise of Japan’s sovereignty.
Three long decades were to pass before Japan gained enough strength,
toward the close of the century, to revise these unequal treaties.