Maine and the Orient: Japan

Commodore Perry Meeting the Imperial Commissioner at Yokohama

Commerce with Japan began after American Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in 1853 at the port of Shimoda, Japan, and demanded Japanese ports be opened for trade. Japan been ruled by shoguns for about 700 years. The capital city had been established at Edo, now Tokyo, and was the world’s largest city from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. Trade had been cut off with all countries except China and Holland, because the shogun wanted Japan to remain free of outside influences. Japanese society was largely medieval in style, highly organized, and agricultural, but they also practiced mining, forestry, and fishing. Whaling has a long history in Japan.

Perry’s visit initiated a period of civil war, and eventually the shogun stepped down. In 1868 the emperor announced the official return of imperial power, the Meiji Restoration. American trade with Japan expanded after the Civil War. The Bill of Lading from the Clarissa B. Carver, Captain Dow, Searsport, shows a cargo of 23 bales of bamboo going from Yokohama, Japan, to New York. She was sunk by a steamer near Kobe, Japan, nine days later.     Clarissa B. Carver bill of lading

Portrait of Capt. Frank I. Pendleton