Japan was invaded by foreign powers many times before Meiji Restoration.

The most famous incident was the "black ship coming to sail".

Picture | Perry landed in Japan

In p>1853, Brigadier General matthew perry of the US Navy led four steam warships into the Puhe Sea in Edo Bay, Japan.

Perry went to Japan this time because he had important business. He had a personal letter from the then President of the United States, that is, credentials. To put it simply, the president of the United States asked Japan to open its ports and trade with the United States.

Japan, like the Qing Dynasty, closed its doors to the outside world all the year round. The Japanese had never seen such a large warship in their lives, and the American warships were all black and looked terrible. Many Japanese civilians were shocked by what they saw.

when the Tokugawa shogunate heard about this incident, he felt that he could not beat Perry's request. He had to pull the reason that the shogunate general Tokugawa IeYoshi fell ill and asked Mr. Perry to go back first, and then discuss the specific matters of the founding of the country after General Tokugawa recovered.

Perry had no intention of using force against Japan because he had other things to deal with at that time. Therefore, this matter will end in nothing.

Actually, before this incident, Americans came here once.

in p>1846, brigadier general James Baertl of the U.S. navy led two sail warships to Japan, demanding the founding of the shogunate. The Japanese shogunate thought this American's request was ridiculous, and he dared to intimidate Japan's founding by opening two broken sail warships. Go back where you came from.

Many years later, the United States made a comeback, so there was a well-prepared "black ship coming to sail" incident.

in p>1854, Perry led nine warships into edo bay again.

This time, the ministers of the shogunate plan to do the same thing again, and then fool Perry away. However, Perry's attitude was firm, and the shogunate could do nothing, so he had to conclude the Kanagawa Treaty with the United States.

The content of this Kanagawa Treaty is roughly three.

First, the shogunate opened Hakodate and Shimoda to the United States. (It's not a trading port, it's just a supply port opened by the shogunate for American warships and civilian ships.)

Secondly, the shogunate has set aside a piece of land in Shimoda as the residence of Americans in Japan. (It is only an activity area, and foreigners were not allowed to settle in Japan at that time)

Third, American businessmen can enjoy one-sided MFN treatment in Japan. That is, preferential treatment and exemption in trade, tariffs, shipping and other aspects.

From the content of this treaty, it is obvious that the significance is greater than the reality. Only with this benefit, the United States can't get much benefit in Japan. Therefore, this will pave the way for the United States to force Japan to amend the treaty in the future.

Picture | A copy of the Kanagawa Treaty, the original of which was burned during the Shoal War

In p>1856, the US government was dissatisfied with the treaty signed with Japan two years ago. So he sent Harris, a diplomat, to Japan, and forced the shogunate to re-sign a new treaty with the United States in 1858, which was called "Japan-United States Repairing Trade Treaty".