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The of 1837 occurred when the American merchant ship, ''Morrison'' headed by Charles W. King, was driven away from "
sakoku was the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of 265 years during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1868), relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, and nearly al ...
" (isolationist)
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
by cannon fire. This was carried out in accordance with the Japanese
Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels The was a law promulgated by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1825 to the effect that all foreign vessels should be driven away from Japanese waters. An example of the law being put into practice was the ''Morrison'' Incident of 1837, in which an Ameri ...
of 1825. It has been alleged that King used the pretext of repatriating seven Japanese castaways, among them Otokichi, to try to open trade with Japan.


History

In addition to its commercial aims, the ship was attempting to repatriate seven shipwrecked Japanese citizens who had been picked up in
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
. It also carried Christian missionaries such as
Samuel Wells Williams Samuel Wells Williams (22 September 1812 – 16 February 1884) was a linguist, official, missionary and Sinologist from the United States in the early 19th century. Early life Williams was born in Utica, New York, son of William Williams (1787 ...
. In July 1837, Charles W. King set off with the seven Japanese aboard an American merchant ship called the SS ''Morrison'', on which he sailed to Uraga at the entrance of
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
Bay. The ship had been disarmed to signify its peaceful intentions. Cannon were fired from the hilltops of the
Miura Peninsula is a peninsula located in Kanagawa, Japan. It lies south of Yokohama and Tokyo and divides Tokyo Bay, to the east, from Sagami Bay, to the west. Cities and towns on the Miura Peninsula include Yokosuka, Miura, Hayama, Zushi, and Kamakura. ...
as soon as the ship approached Uraga, in compliance with the 1825–42 shogunal order that any approaching Western ships, apart from
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People ...
ones, should be fired upon. King anchored at a safe distance, out of range of the shore batteries. Men from several small fishing ships boarded the SS ''Morrison'', and
sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
and cookies were shared until late in the night. By daybreak, however, cannons had been brought closer to the seaside, and they were again fired at the ship. Hundreds of small boats, each with a small cannon at the front, also started to surround and attack the ship. The ''Morrison'' sailed away, with little damage. King then sailed to Kagoshima in
Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
. The first day he met some officials there, who took two of the castaways into custody. The following day, a fisherman came alongside and warned the sailors to leave immediately. As the ship was setting its sails, the Japanese opened fire from cannons they had moved to the proximity of the ship during the night. King decided to abandon the mission and returned to
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...
with the remaining castaways. King was outraged by the Japanese response, and upon his return to the United States in 1839 wrote a book about his adventure. In the book he explained that the American flag had been fired upon by a foreign government and that the next contacts with Japan "had better be left to the stronger and wiser action of the American Government". In 1845, a resolution was introduced to the United States Congress to open Japan to trade. Although the resolution was never passed, the United States government sent an expedition under
James Biddle James Biddle (February 18, 1783 – October 1, 1848), of the Biddle family, brother of financier Nicholas Biddle and nephew of Capt. Nicholas Biddle, was an American commodore. His flagship was . Education and early career Biddle was born in Phi ...
with two heavily armed ships, to induce Japan to negotiate. The nature of the ship's mission became known one year after the event, and this resulted in increased criticism of the Edict.


Fictional Depictions

*King's visit to Japan was briefly depicted during the opening episode of the 2008 NHK Taiga drama '' Atsuhime''.


Notes

Among the Japanese
castaway A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade captors or the world in general. A person may also be left as ...
s was
Yamamoto Otokichi , also known as Yamamoto Otokichi and later known as John Matthew Ottoson (1818 – January 1867), was a Japanese castaway originally from the area of Onoura near modern-day Mihama, on the west coast of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture ...
, who became known for his role in bridging the cultural gap between Japan and rest of the world. Otokichi was one of three survivors of the 1834 wreck of ''Hojunmaru'' near
Cape Flattery Cape Flattery () is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, a ...
, which, damaged, had drifted for over a year across the ocean. The three were the first Japanese to visit what is now Washington state, as well as the first to visit London.


References


Bibliography

* Cullen, L. M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (cloth); (paper) * Sewall, John S. (1905)
''The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas''
Bangor, Maine: Chas H. Glass & Co. eprint by Chicago: R. R. Donnelly & Sons, 1995


External links


pbs.org timeline
{{Authority control Japan–United States relations History of Christianity in Japan 1837 in Japan Satsuma Province Combat incidents Maritime incidents in 1837 Foreign relations of the Tokugawa shogunate