Second Landing in Japan
Tanya Sehgal, Brown '06
This lithograph, created by commissioned artist Wilhelm Heine, portrays the reception of Commodore Perry and his men on their second landing in Japan. Heine journeyed with the expedition for the sole purpose of creating a set of lithographs that would serve as a record of events. Heine's profound adulation of Commodore Perry and his cause comes across very clearly in this lithograph, and in his written account that was later published as a memoir (Wilhelm Heine, With Perry to Japan: A Memoir).
The American soldiers stand in perfectly aligned rows, all in uniform and facing the same direction. They left open a pathway that was not only large enough for Commodore Perry's entrance, but was also spacious enough so that his grand arrival could be viewed by all. The Americans were highly organized and structured in their formation and demeanor, whereas the Japanese men had a less rigid posture and were chatting amongst themselves. In fact, their slovenly configuration paled in comparison to the clear, distinct lines in which the Americans stood in according to rank. Perry wrote, "Accordingly, every preparation was made in the squadron to distinguish the occasion of our second landing in Japan by all necessary parade, knowing as I well did the importance of moral influence of such show" (Matthew Calbraith Perry, The Japan Expedition, 1852-1854, p. 164). Recognizing the importance of being distinguished, Perry made sure his men behaved such that his arrival would be dignified.
On the water, the artist depicted the entire American fleet. One ship, on the left side of the picture, does not look like the other ships, and I therefore assumed it was a Japanese boat. But the artist gave it so little attention that it did not get any kind of Japanese marker (i.e., a flag or a seal), nor was it discussed in Heine's memoir. He wrote, "What a beautiful sight: the squadron's eight ships in a row over a mile long; the three steamers and the Macedonian asserting sprung batteries; parallel to them, the line of boats, filled with officers, marines, and sailors, their cannon polished and shining, and their personal weapons gleaming in the sun; and flags fluttering their joyful stars and happy stripes in the mild breeze" (Wilhelm Heine, With Perry to Japan: A Memoir, p. 104). Heine simply did not see anything other than the beauty of the "joyful stars and happy stripes," and it was through this lens that he represented Commodore Perry's second landing in Japan as an unequivocally festive occasion.