Japan Re-opens
The four islands of Japan were ruled by a shogun, a military general who inherited his position. Although Japan had an Emperor, power and rule of the country lay in the shogun hands. For 200 years, that shogun had been from the Tokugawa family. The Tokugawa family kept anyone from Western countries (Europe or the Americas) out because they were afraid that Christian missionaries would convert the Japanese Buddhists to Christianity. They did not need missionairies, Western ideas, or goods. So the shoguns passed laws forbidding the Japanese to travel to foreign lands.
In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry and his fleet of black ships approached Edo Bay. The United States wanted to trade with Japan. American merchants wanted to buy fine Japanese silks and ceramics, and more importantly, coal. The black ships intimidated the people of Japan, finally pressuring them to let Perry and a few of his men on land. Perry handed over a letter from the President of the US to a Japanese governor named Toda. Perry left and returned one year later in 1854. The Japanese realized their army of samurai were no match against the US and agreed to sign a trade treaty.
