1-156-844 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Ships of Commodore Perry's American expedition to Japan of 1852-1854. American naval officer Matthew Perry (1794-1858) was ordered by President Millard Fillmore to command an expedition to Japan to open diplomatic relations with the USA and secure them first trading rights. Prior to Perry's visit, Japan was closed to the West with the exception of very limited trade with the Netherlands. Suspecting that the isolationist Japanese would rebuff the American approach unless backed up by a threat of military force, Perry sailed into Tokyo's Uraga Harbour with a squadron of four steam frigates. The Japanese agreed to open diplomatic and trade links with the USA, but the American 'black ships' came to be seen, and resented by many Japanese, as symbols of threatening Western technology and colonialism.