Tokugawa Shogunate HISH PAPER 3 IB

• Commodore Perry first arrived in the bay of Edo on July 8th 1853, carrying a load of gifts symbolising the superiority of Western culture to present to the Emperor of Japan
• Reasons for US interest in Japan

  • The combination of the opening of Chinese ports to regular trade and the annexation of California, creating an American port on the Pacific, ensured that there would be a steady stream of maritime traffic between North America and Asia
  • As American traders in the Pacific replaced sailing ships with steam ships, they needed to secure coaling stations, where they could stop to take on provisions and fuel while making the long trip from the United States to China
  • The United States whaling industry had pushed into the North Pacific by the mid-18th century, and sought safe harbours, assistance in case of shipwrecks, reliable supply stations and that possible stranded Americans on Japanese shores would not be mistreated by Japanese authorities
• China was defeated in the Opium Wars which forced it to open up treaty ports for foreign trade, cede its territory, grant special rights and privileges to France, the UK and the US
• These treaties (such as the Treaty of Nanjing, Tianjin) gave foreigners extraterritorial rights which excused them from Japanese law or taxation, and gave them the permission to establish consulates and various settlements which undermined the sovereignty of China
• Japan was informed on what was happening abroad during the Opium War (through their limited contacts) and were able to see the first hand results of China's defiance of Western demands before it was Japan's turn to respond to them
• Britain had forced China to open up trade, but in the case of Japan, they weren't the ones who threatened the bakufu policy and instead it was the US
• The Americans were interested in Japan for two reasons: as they expanded their territory towards the west, and Oregon and California became a part of the US (1848); this added the Pacific Ocean within the sphere of interest. Secondly, the US ships needed a place where they could take on fresh provisions (fresh food and water, also supplies for the ship which could be oil n stuff)
• In 1852 Commodore Perry sent a letter from President Fillmore to the Shogun, which was extremely friendly but advertising the west with nationalism
• Perry returned in 1854 with twice as many ships. The bakufu agreed to negotiate with them and signed the Treaty of Kanagawa
• Treaty of Kanagawa


  Japan agreed to: open up the isolated ports of Hakodate and Shimoda to ships from the US, allow Americans to station a consul in Shimoda, treat shipwrecked sailors well and give the US the status of the 'most favoured nation'
• The shogun believed that he had prevented an opening in a full scale in terms of trade for Japan, but in the upcoming years pressure increased to open Japan up further
• American consul (Townsend Harris) played a leading role in this and as a result in 1858 the Harris Treaty was signed
• Harris Treaty


  This treaty included: Edo, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata and Yokohama opening up for foreign trade, Japanese tariffs placed under international control and import duties fixed at low levels and lastly a system of extraterritoriality being established (provided that foreign residents would be subject to their own consular courts rather than to Japanese law)
• With the Harris treaty, the emperor was brought into politics and undermined the shogun by saying he didn't want to sign the treaty (shogun had asked him because of instability)
• The key differences between the Treaty of Kanagawa (1854) and the Harris Treaty of 1858


  • The Treaty of Kanagawa was more limited in scope, granting only basic rights like protection for shipwrecked sailors and the opening of two ports for refueling and provisioning. The Harris Treaty of 1858 was a more comprehensive commercial treaty that opened up additional ports for trade, granted extraterritorial rights to U.S. citizens, and established diplomatic representation.
  • The Treaty of Kanagawa was negotiated under the threat of force by Commodore Matthew Perry's naval squadron. The Harris Treaty was negotiated more peacefully by Townsend Harris, the first U.S. consul to Japan, who persuaded the Japanese to agree to better terms than they would have faced from other Western powers using force.
  • The Treaty of Kanagawa was an initial step in opening Japan to the West, but did not guarantee significant trade or commercial rights. The Harris Treaty of 1858 laid the foundation for greater Western economic penetration and influence in Japan, becoming the basis for similar treaties with other European powers.
• Perry's arrival shook the power balanced structured by the Tokugawa Shogunate and greatly affected Japanese domestic politics as the United States's expedition to Japan severely altered the Tokugawa's xenophobic stance on foreign relations
• Negotiation Process


  1. The Treaty of Kanagawa was negotiated under the threat of force by Commodore Matthew Perry's naval squadron

  2. The Harris Treaty was negotiated more peacefully by Townsend Harris, the first U.S. consul to Japan, who persuaded the Japanese to agree to better terms than they would have faced from other Western powers using force
• Treaty of Kanagawa


  • It was an initial step in opening Japan to the West, but did not guarantee significant trade or commercial rights
• Harris Treaty of 1858


  • It laid the foundation for greater Western economic penetration and influence in Japan, becoming the basis for similar treaties with other European powers
• Perry's arrival shook the power balanced structured by the Tokugawa Shogunate and greatly affected Japanese domestic politics as the United States's expedition to Japan severely altered the Tokugawa's xenophobic stance on foreigners in Japan and greatly undermined the authority of the bakufu and of the Shogun
• The United States Government was determined to take the lead in bringing Japan's two-century-old policy of self-imposed isolation to a close. The Fillmore administration sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry and a small fleet of troops and the latest steam-powered ships to go to Edo (Tokyo) Bay to insist on a treaty that would protect the rights of American whalers, provide for coaling ports, and eventually lead to trade (such elements structured the ultimatum Perry presented to the Japanese)
• Action taken by Commodore Perry exceedingly broke down the shogunate's harsh and defensive front whereby with skillful negotiation, first enacted using violence, the US gained the ability to conduct commerce in several trade ports in Japan, granted initially in the Treaty of Kanagawa
• It was Perry's force which broke down xenophobic barriers constructed by the shogunate to remain in its isolation and allowed for foreign relations to develop between Japan and Western states, severely altering the Tokugawa's isolationist foreign policies
• It was through commodore Perry's force and the bakufu needing to reorganise its prioritised policies that the shogunate was able to use it's power to consider trade with other nations while still remaining superior to western nations and keeping Japanese culture intact
• Schools of thought that emerged with the passage of the Treaty of Kanagawa


  • Kaikoku
  • Sonnō jōi
• Kaikoku school


  Used methods of Western learning, specifically from the Dutch, and believed the 'opening up' of japan for diplomatic and commercial relations with foreign nations to be beneficial to Japan as Japan would gain access to Western weapons and technology, advancing the Japanese's ability to grow as a strong and independent state
• Sonnō jōi school


  Embraced the xenophobic traditions of the Tokugawa shogunate and believed that opening up Japan would result in political and cultural chaos, inspired by the Mito School which was extremely xenophobic and deeply committed to the imperial institution as the embodiment of Japan
• In obtaining the signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa (March 1st, 1854), Perry achieved two of his three central objectives by improving America's access to strategic energy resources. He succeeded in getting two coaling ports for the Navy's new steamships and in protecting America's oil workers (the whalers). He did not, however, open Japan to trade (it did not guarantee the right to trade with Japan). It wasn't until 1858 that the U.S. Consul at last achieved Perry's final objective: establishing a commercial treaty, known as the Harris Treaty
• Perspectives on the changes made to Japan's domestic policies brought on by Perry's arrival and the US's commercial and ideological beliefs regarding foreign trade relations


  • Despite becoming weakened by the signing of the commercial treaty known as the Harris Treaty in 1858, the Tokugawa Shogunate granted the US new resources which aided the nation's technological advancement
  • The signing of the Harris Treaty brought on civil unrest among the Japanese population as anger of Japanese civil servants became redirected from the presence of the foreigners towards the Shogun and bakufu's lack of authority and control in holding Japan's initial domestic policies and asserting Japan as a dominant and powerful nation
• Historian W. G Beasley suggests that the events of the summer of 1858 (The Harris Treaty) marked the beginning of modern nationalism in Japan, as the enforced acceptance of the treaties brought a new awareness of a foreign threats directed at something larger than all the villages or domains, and a recognition of political unity slowly spread, first from major centres to the provinces, then from samurai to other sections of the population, given focus by the call to honour the emperor
• Historian Kenneth Pyle recognises that the evolving treaties supported new contrasting political ideologies in Japan, expressed by the newly made institutions and other forms of rebel groups, in either supporting or bashing the authority of Japan and as such, strengthened the weakness of Japan's national strength, supported by the ideology of the nation's unity (bound by the emperor) and becoming independent, and further promoted internal conflict, abandoning initial Tokugawa domestic policies entirely
• The Meiji Restoration was a political revolution that happened in 1868 that finalised the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ended the Edo (Tokugawa) Period. The control of the country returned to direct imperial rule under the Meiji emperor. There was major political, economic and social change – it brought modernization and Westernisation of the country
• Differing interpretations of the Meiji Restoration of 1868 in Japan

  • Traditionalist View (Albert Craig): Restoration was about upholding traditional values
  • Nationalist View (William Beasley): Restoration was a nationalist revolution driven by a desire to protect Japan from foreign encroachment
  • Radical Dissatisfaction View: Restoration was motivated by domestic social unrest
  • Leadership and Stability View (George Wilson and Pyle): Restoration aimed to consolidate power and provide national direction
• The leaders of the restoration were mostly young samurai from feudal domains (hans) historically hostile to Tokugawa authority, notably Chōshū. Those men were motivated by growing domestic problems and by the threat of foreign encroachment. The latter concern had its origins in the efforts by Western powers to "open" Japan, beginning in the 1850s after more than two centuries of near isolation, and the fear that Japan could be subjected to the same imperialist pressures that they observed happening in nearby China
• Adopting the slogan "Enrich the country, strengthen the army" ("Fukoku kyōhei"), they sought to create a nation-state capable of standing equal among Western powers. Knowledge was to be sought in the West, the goodwill of which was essential for revising the unequal treaties that had been enacted and granted foreign countries judicial and economic privileges in Japan through extraterritoriality
• Tokugawa Japan Timeline


  • 1716: Ban on Christianity
  • 1720s-1830s: Height of the Edo Period
  • December 24, 1854: Ansei Great Earthquake
  • 1853: Arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry
  • 1854: Treaty of Kanagawa
  • 1858: Harris Treaty
  • 1860: Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the Netherlands
  • 1860: Assassination
  • 1863-1864: Namamugi Incident and Bombardment of Kagoshima
  • 1864: The Shogun's new police force clashes against the Ronin
  • 1866: Satsuma bought weapons from the British
  • 1866: Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance
  • 1867: The Choshu Daimyo convinced the Shogun Yoshinobu to resign
  • 1867: Uprising
  • 1867: Boshin War
  • 1868: Meiji Restoration
  • 1871: Abolition of the Samurai class
• Differing interpretations of the Tokugawa Shogunate

  • Positive View: Tokugawa's isolationist policies were "brilliant" as it ensured Japan's security and stability
  • Negative/Capitalist View: Tokugawa system was repressive, rigid, and reactionary, stopping social fluidity and economic progress
  • W.G. Beasley's Perspective: Rapid economic development under Tokugawa led to "inconsistencies and contradictions" in the system, and the Treaties with the West sparked "modern nationalism" in Japan
  • Kenneth Pyle's Perspective: Unequal treaties exposed Japan's "national impotence" and ignited political conflict that destroyed bakufu (shogunate) authority, with the Restoration motivated by a desire to recover Japan's national independence and international respect
• During the Edo period, there was an emphasis on agriculture as it provided food security and stability for society.
• In the early years of the Edo period, the shoguns focused on centralizing their control over the daimyos and establishing a stable government structure.