On a warm July day of 1853, the Japanese, gathered on the shores of Uraga Bay, saw ships for the first time in their lives. The American squadron under the command of Matthew Perry, having fired several salvos from naval guns, caused panic among the local population. This day in history is often associated with the violent discovery of Japan. How and why did this happen? The answer should be sought in the past of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Isolated world
The island nation of Japan, unlike its Asian neighbors, throughout history has been shielded from constant enemy invasions. However, this in no way means that the country was closed to foreign influence, in particular European.
Starting from the 15th century, Portuguese, Spanish, and then English, Dutch and French sailors discovered and actively explored new territories. Following them came missionaries who zealously preached Christianity to the pagan peoples.
In the XVI century, European merchants reached the Far Eastern islands. In the holds of their ships, among various goods, were firearms, unknown until this time in the Land of the Rising Sun. Portuguese and Spanish missionaries began their preaching work here with some success. Thus, the first discovery of Japan by Europeans took place.
Country unification
Foreign influence was especially strong on the island of Kyushu. There is a simple explanation for this: local feudal lords who resisted the country's unification counted on foreign aid in the internecine struggle. This was justified, since pirates and merchants brought firearms from Europe.
Like many other medieval countries, Japan experienced a period of feudal fragmentation, until in the XVI century there was a tendency to create a centralized state. By the end of the century, administrative and military power in almost all of Japan was concentrated in the hands of the powerful feudal lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Of course, not everyone in the country was pleased with this. Therefore, the discovery of Japan by Europeans in the sixteenth century was very useful for those who resisted the centralization of feudal lords. They adopted Christianity, attracted Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships that brought weapons to their ports, and even sent their own embassies to Europe.
Tokugawa Shogunate
After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi between the feudal lords, a struggle for power began, with Tokugawa Ieyasu emerging as the winner. In 1603 he was proclaimed shogun - commander in chief. His house dominated until the second, this time violent discovery of Japan. The emperor became a nominal figure, and the actual power in the state was concentrated in the hands of the shogun.
During the reign of Ieyasu Tokugawa and his son, the unification of the country was completed. And although the division into separate principalities remained, they were not political, but judicial-administrative units. The capital of the united state was the city of Edo - modern Tokyo.
Sakoku - Japan's Self-Isolation Policy
Tokugawa Ieyasu knew how to capitalize on contacts with foreigners. In 1600, Dutch Protestants arrived in the country. Catholic priests demanded the execution of heretics. However, the far-sighted Tokugawa not only chose to leave them alive, but also brought the Englishman William Adams, the captain of the Dutch ship, closer to him. He has become a valuable source of technical and political information. Adams is the only foreigner in history who has received the status of a samurai with the right of personal access to the shogun.
True, at the end of days Tokugawa began to annoy the feuds and intrigues of Europeans. Therefore, Christianity was prohibited in Japan in 1614. His son and successor supported not only the persecution of Christians, but also in the year of the death of his father (1616) issued a decree on the closure of all ports for foreign ships, with the exception of Hirado and Nagasaki.
But even in them, from 1624, Spanish ships ceased to be allowed to support Catholic missionaries, and from 1638 access to ports was also closed for Portuguese ships. The British as early as 1623 stopped trading with Japan. The only ones who retained the right to trade were the Dutch, who participated in the suppression of the rebellion of Japanese Christians on the island of Kyushu in 1637-1638.
The final acts of Sakoku policy were:
- a ban on the construction of ships that could go far into the sea;
- a ban on Japanese living in other countries from returning to their homeland;
- Expulsion of children from mixed marriages from the country.
The Tokugawa shogunate maintained this state of affairs until the discovery of Japan 200 years later.
Life in isolation
Conscious isolation from foreign influence to some extent contributed to the preservation of the feudal system in the country. However, the centralization of the state put an end to destructive internecine wars and contributed to stability in society.
Only thirty Chinese ships and two Dutch had the right to enter Japanese ports annually. They brought small luxury goods that were not of great value. In addition, teams of foreign courts served as a source of information about life flowing outside the country.
Of course, the policy of self-isolation can hardly be called progressive. However, it was during this period of Japanese history that appeared:
- national drama of kabuki;
- haiku poetry;
- the art of growing bonsai - miniature trees;
- wood engraving;
- plebeian novels;
- Ura Sanke's tea ceremony school, which exists today.
But the world learned about all these cultural achievements only after the discovery of Japan in the middle of the 19th century.
Contacts with Russian sailors
The first successful diplomatic mission of Russia is the expedition of Lieutenant Adam Laxman, organized by order of Catherine the Great in the fall of 1792. True, for a number of reasons, its results were not then fixed. Therefore, when in 1804 the Russian embassy, headed by Rezanov, arrived in Nagasaki, a very hostile reception awaited him. All proposals for establishing interstate ties and trade were rejected by the Shogun Ienari.
The war with Napoleon and rivalry with Great Britain subsequently diverted the attention of the Russian government from attempts to establish foreign policy relations with Japan in the 19th century, more precisely in the first half. Despite this, in the 1950s and 1950s, Russia closely watched the growing interest of the United States in the discovery of Japan, even by force of arms.
The arrival of the barbarians
The war of Mexico and the United States (1846-1848) ended with the annexation of California to the United States, thanks to which the American fleet got access to the Pacific Ocean. At that time, a lucrative whaling business flourished in its waters. The Americans believed, and not without reason, that Japanese ports were an ideal place where their ships could stop for repairs and replenish food supplies.
The year 1853 is considered the year of the discovery of Japan, and violent, because it was then that the events mentioned at the beginning of the article occurred. The military squadron commanded by Commodore Perry, threatening to shed blood if necessary, forced the shogun to listen to the demands of the American side. The Japanese called these events "the arrival of the barbarians."
A year later, Perry M. returned with more ships. He brought miniature copies of the achievements of Western civilization: a telegraph, a railway, a collection of weapons, a telescope, an iron stove and other gifts. On this visit, Perry entered into a friendship agreement that the US government wanted, a few years later replaced by a trade agreement. Similar documents were soon signed between Japan and other countries, including Russia.
The consequences of the discovery of Japan
The collapse of the policy of self-isolation had both positive and negative consequences for the country. The first historians include:
- overthrow of the regime of the shogunate;
- reforms in the social and military spheres, as well as in economics and politics.
Such global transformations enabled Japan in the 19th century to quickly overcome the lag behind the developed countries of the world in the military-technical field, which enabled it to achieve a review of previously imposed trade agreements.
The latter provoked a massive ruin of Japanese artisans, whose products could not compete with cheaper manufactured goods. Among the other negative consequences of the opening of the country, the researchers consider:
- depreciation of local currency;
- price increase;
- the strengthening of feudal oppression in the village.
As a result, the reforms carried out on the one hand helped Japan avoid political dependence on Western states, and on the other, become one of the leading countries in Asia.