![Japanese-Embassy-to-the-United-States-Group-Photo-1860](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Japanese-Embassy-to-the-United-States-Group-Photo-1860.png)
![Kanrin-Maru-Ship-Crew-1860](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Kanrin-Maru-Ship-Crew-1860.png)
The was dispatched in 1860 by the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
(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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
since the 1854
opening of Japan
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 and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. ...
by
Commodore Matthew Perry
Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the op ...
.
Another significant facet of the mission was the shogunate's dispatch of a Japanese warship, the ''
Kanrin Maru
''Kanrin Maru'' was Japan's first sail and screw-driven steam corvette (the first steam-driven Japanese warship, ''Kankō Maru'', was a side-wheeler). She was ordered in 1853 from the Netherlands, the only Western country with which Japan had ...
'', to accompany the delegation across the Pacific and thereby demonstrate the degree to which Japan had mastered Western navigation techniques and ship technologies barely six years after ending its
isolation policy of nearly 250 years.
Background
![Kanrin-Maru-Artwork-by-Suzufuji-Yujiro-c1860](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Kanrin-Maru-Artwork-by-Suzufuji-Yujiro-c1860.jpg)
On January 19, 1860, the ''
Kanrin Maru
''Kanrin Maru'' was Japan's first sail and screw-driven steam corvette (the first steam-driven Japanese warship, ''Kankō Maru'', was a side-wheeler). She was ordered in 1853 from the Netherlands, the only Western country with which Japan had ...
'' set sail from
Uraga for
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
under the leadership of Captain
Katsu Kaishū
Count , best known by his nickname , 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 (Kaishū Shooku ) by Sakuma Shōzan. He ...
, with
Nakahama "John" Manjiro as the official translator, carrying 96 Japanese men and an American officer, John M. Brooke on board. The overall head of the mission was Admiral (木村喜毅), a high ranking Shogunate official.
Fukuzawa Yukichi
was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases.
Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...
, the future educator and reformer, but then only a young man eager to see foreign lands, had volunteered his services as an assistant to Admiral Kimura.
The Japanese embassy itself traveled aboard a U.S. Navy ship, the
USS ''Powhatan'', which the ''Kanrin Maru'' escorted - albeit taking a different route across the Pacific and arriving before the ''Powhatan''. The Japanese embassy was formally composed of three men: Ambassador Shinmi Masaoki (新見正興), Vice-Ambassador Muragaki Norimasa (村垣範正), and Observer Oguri Tadamasa (小栗忠順).
Destinations
San Francisco
![Fukuzawa Yukichi with the girl of the photo studio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Fukuzawa_Yukichi_with_the_girl_of_the_photo_studio.jpg)
The ''Kanrin Maru'' reached
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
directly, but the ''Powhatan'' (and the embassy) made a stopover in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
first. When it arrived in San Francisco, the delegation stayed for a month, and Fukuzawa had himself photographed with an American girl, a photo that has since become one of the most famous in Japanese history. Fukuzawa also acquired an English–Chinese
Webster's Dictionary
''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...
, from which he began to study English seriously and prepare his own English–Japanese dictionary.
Washington, D.C., New York, and the return
When the ''Kanrin Maru'' returned to Japan, the ''Powhatan'' continued with the Embassy to
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
, where its members crossed the isthmus to the Atlantic via the recently opened
Panama Railway
The Panama Canal Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near ...
. Changing ships for the
USS ''Roanoke'', the 72-man diplomatic mission then proceeded to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Numerous receptions were held in its honor, including one at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, where the diplomats met President
James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
. Buchanan presented them with a gold watch engraved with his likeness as a gift to the
Shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
.
The Japanese delegation traveled north to Philadelphia. Their attention to activities planned by local officials was distracted by the news of what became known as the
"Sakuradamon incident" in Tokyo. The
Tairō
''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing ''rōjū'' council in the event of an e ...
Ii Naosuke
was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Ha ...
had been assassinated on March 24; and accounts of the event were sped by
pony express
The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...
across the American continent. This murdered official had been the highest ranking signer of the Japanese-American
1858 "Harris Treaty", which was a follow-up to the 1854
Treaty of Kanagawa
The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...
.
The delegation continued on to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where their procession up Broadway from the Battery was a grand parade.
From New York, they crossed the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
s, all on board the
USS ''Niagara'', thus completing a circumnavigation. After leaving New York on June 30, the ''Niagara'' reached the harbor at
Porto Grande ''For São Vicente's main port, see Porto Grande, Cape Verde''
Porto Grande (Portuguese: ''Grand Harbor'', ) is a municipality located in the southeast of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Its population is 22,452 and its area is 4,425 km².
...
,
Cape Verde Islands
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
, on July 16.
"The Japanese Embassy,"
''New York Times.'' August 20, 1860. Other ports on the voyage back to Japan included São Paulo-de-Loande (now Luanda
Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...
), Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
; Batavia (now Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
), Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
; and Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. The frigate finally sailed into Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...
on November 8 to disembark her passengers.
Significance
The ''Kanrin Maru''’s voyage from Uraga to San Francisco is often cited as the first crossing of the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
by an all-Japanese crew sailing on a Japanese ship, although the crew were advised by John M. Brooke. However, the ''Kanrin Maru''’s was not the first Pacific crossing by a Japanese ship and crew: at least three such journeys had been made in the 17th century, before Japan's period of isolation: those by Tanaka Shōsuke
Tanaka Shōsuke (田中 勝助, also 田中 勝介) was an important Japanese technician and trader in metals from Kyoto during the beginning of the 17th century.
According to Japanese archives (駿府記) he was a representative of the great Osa ...
in 1610, Hasekura Tsunenaga
was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Phi ...
in 1614, and Yokozawa Shōgen
was a Japanese samurai of the sixteenth century, who served Date Masamune, ruler of the Sendai domain.
In September 1616, under an order by Date Masamune, Yokozawa went to Mexico on the ''San Juan Bautista'' in order to fetch his compatriot ...
in 1616.
See also
* Bernardo the Japanese, the first Japanese to visit Europe, in 1553
* Tenshō embassy
The Tenshō embassy (Japanese: 天正の使節, named after the Tenshō Era in which the embassy took place) was an embassy sent by the Japanese Christian Lord Ōtomo Sōrin to the Pope and the kings of Europe in 1582. The embassy was led by ...
, first Japanese embassy to visit Europe, in 1582
* Hasekura Tsunenaga
was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Phi ...
, lead the Keichō Embassy, a diplomatic mission from 1613 through 1620,
* First Japanese Embassy to Europe (1862)
The First Japanese Embassy to Europe (Japanese:第1回遣欧使節, also 開市開港延期交渉使節団) was sent to Europe by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1862. The head of the mission was Takenouchi Yasunori, governor of Shimotsuke Provinc ...
, in actuality the third embassy to Europe
Notes
See also
* First Japanese Embassy to Europe (1862)
The First Japanese Embassy to Europe (Japanese:第1回遣欧使節, also 開市開港延期交渉使節団) was sent to Europe by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1862. The head of the mission was Takenouchi Yasunori, governor of Shimotsuke Provinc ...
* Second Japanese Embassy to Europe (1863)
The Second Japanese Embassy to Europe ( ja, 第2回遣欧使節, also ), also called the Ikeda Mission, was sent on February 6, 1864 by the Tokugawa shogunate. The head of the mission was Ikeda Nagaoki, governor of small villages of Ibara, Okaya ...
References
* Shin Jinbutsu Ōrai-sha, eds.: ''Bakumatsu—Meiji Furushashin Chō Aizōhan'' (幕末・明治古写真帖 愛蔵版; Album of Bakumatsu- and Meiji-Period Photos, Enthusiasts’ Edition). Tokyo, 2003.
* Shin Jinbutsu Ōrai-sha, eds.: ''Sekai wo Mita Bakumatsu-Ishin no Eiyūtachi'' (世界を見た幕末維新の英雄たち; Heros of 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 and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...
- and Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
-Period who saw the world). Tokyo, 2007.
Further reading
The Tycoon's Ambassadors: Captain DuPont and the Japanese Embassy of 1860, Tom Marshall and Sidney Marshall. Green Forest Press, 2015.
* {{cite journal , journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' is a quarterly journal published by the American Philosophical Society since 1838. The journal contains papers which have been read at meetings of the American Philosophical Society each April ...
, volume= 49 , year=1910 , url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101076463940?urlappend=%3Bseq=305 , title= Great Japanese Embassy of 1860 , hdl= 2027/njp.32101076463940?urlappend=%3Bseq=305
External links
JapanDayNYC 2010
Arrival of First Japanese Embassy at the Navy Yard (1860)
- story detailing the arrival of the Japanese Embassy
Foreign relations of the Tokugawa shogunate
History of the foreign relations of the United States
1860 establishments in the United States
Japan–United States relations
1860 in Japan
Japanese embassies to the West