Black Ships

The Black Ships (Japanese黒 船, kurofune ) was a name that was given to Western vessels that landed in Japan between the 16th and 19th centuries. In particular, this term refers to the ships Mississippi, Plymouth, Saratoga, and Susquehanna, that arrived in 1853 at Uraga Harbor ( part of present-day Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture ) under the command of U.S. naval officer Commodore Matthew Perry.

Perry landed for the first time on July 8, 1853 in the Bay of Edo (now Tokyo). He brought a letter from the then American President Fillmore with, was requesting that the opening of Japanese ports, and insisted on an official receipt. He initially received no response. Therefore, he made it abundantly clear that he would come back and then waiting for a reply to the letter sent in the request.

The following year, on 31 March 1854 Perry returned with seven ships and forced the Shogun to the so-called " Treaty of Peace and Friendship " (日 米 修好 通商 条约), which established formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. Within the next five years, Japan signed similar " Unequal Treaties" with other Western states.

These contracts were tightened further in 1858 by Townsend Harris by Japan, the customs jurisdiction and the jurisdiction was denied for American aliens.

The surprise and confusion that caused these ships, ( a humorous poem, similar to the 5-line waka ) are immortalized in this famous Kyoka:

This poem is a complex system of linguistic jokes (Japanese kakekotoba ): Taihei (泰 平) means " quiet ", Jōkisen (上 喜 撰) is the name of an expensive brand of green tea, which contains large amounts of caffeine and Shihai (四 杯) means " four cups ", so you can read the poem literally as:

However, one can read the text differently: Taihei can refer to the Pacific Ocean (太平) jōkisen also means " steamers " (蒸 気 船) and Shihai also means " four vehicles " (四 只). The poem can therefore be used in its hidden meaning to read as follows: