Perry In Japan

Friend or Fiend: The True Picture of the Negotiations Behind "Trading Umbrellas" [Scroll 3]

Yuki Kato, The University of Tokyo (Spring 2009)

[Trading umbrellas]

At an initial look at "Trading Umbrellas," one might instantly assume that the encounter of the Americans and the Japanese was peaceful, and imagine a beautiful scene where they respected each other as equal humankind and friends. However, historical facts prove otherwise. The entire diplomatic negotiation was in fact conducted under extreme tension, especially for the Japanese. Not only did Perry arrive in Uraga in sturdy jet-black steamships, but he sent the Japanese government two white flags and an accompanying letter which contained a message that could be interpreted as a threat against them (Matsumoto, 2008). This raises the question of why the Japanese artist mostly depicted the amicable scenes, and why he omitted the stark reality. The Japanese artist's own nationalism and the pride of being Japanese could have prompted him to create and leave artworks depicting a scene of amity for the later generation, aiming to overwrite the fact that they were forced to open their country to foreign trade.

Although "Trading Umbrellas" gives an impression of peaceful interactions, the artist has subtly included a scene representing the true picture of the negotiations. In the drawing, the Japanese and the Americans are seemingly having a pleasant time. Many of them are presenting each other with gifts representing their own culture, including umbrellas. However, there is one peculiar scene depicted in this scroll that does not merge with the optimistic atmosphere of the surroundings. Near the centre of the scroll, in the area between the tall tree and the house, we can see an American pointing a gun at a Japanese man. The American is covering his mouth with his left hand, while the Japanese is raising his hands in front of him as if to calm the American down, or as if he is asking for mercy. No one else is watching them, for they are all absorbed in their own conversations. The expression of the Japanese man is stiff, and this suggests that they are not simply joking. The artist may have put this in the drawing as a hint of the reality, and deliberately hid it among the amicable exchanges, so that only the observant viewers would notice. This implies that the artist was aware of what the negotiations were actually like, and that he intentionally hid the scene representing the reality amid the friendly interactions to give an impression that Japan was not overpowered by the Americans.

The negotiations between the Americans and the Japanese were conducted under great pressure, for the Americans were determined to open Japan and they were not hesitant to use their superior military prowess. According to "Meiji Japan through Contemporary Sources" (1972), Perry sent two white flags and a letter to the Japanese government along with the President's letter. In his letter, Perry threatened the Japanese, criticizing the isolationism policy adopted by the government for centuries, and aggressively emphasized the fact that the United States was ready to use armed forces which exceeded those of Japan by far. In addition, he instructed the recipient to use "the white flag that [they had] recently presented to [the Japanese]," if they wished to "seek for a reconciliation." The existence of the flags and the letter is doubted by some historians, for its reference can only be found in this source. However, other evidences suggest that extreme tension existed between the two nations. For example, Sakuma Shozan, a Neo-Confucianist of late Edo Period, observed that the black ships had their cannons pointed towards the bay of Uraga at all times. Shozan, who was a keen observer, also noticed that the ships harbored just far enough to avoid the range of Japanese artillery, but close enough for them to fire their cannonballs (Matsumoto 2008). Thus, although Perry arrived in Uraga apparently seeking for a peaceful negotiation, he was actually determined to open Japan no matter what.

However, could the true intentions of Perry have reached and have been understood by people outside the Shogunate? In other words, could the artist of this picture successfully access any sources that showed the truths? Some may argue that the artist knew nothing about the true details of the negotiations, because the Japanese government prevented the citizens from obtaining information pertaining to diplomacy. This argument is correct in one aspect. In 1791, the Japanese government enacted a law that forbade its citizens other than watchmen to go and see foreign ships, and if one saw foreigners by any chance, he or she was not allowed to causally discuss it with others (Iwata 2005, p. 76). However, rumors about Americans arriving spread instantly across Japan, contrary to what the government had wished for. According to Iwata (2005, p. 142), the Okubo family, a wealthy farming family in Kanto area, left a large number of books regarding the arrival of Perry, although it was illegal to discuss this issue among the populace. In the diary of Okubo Masuge, the headman of the Okubo family, people from various backgrounds are mentioned to have had a relationship with the family. Included in these people are samurai from other clans, doctors, traders and artists. In one of the records by the Okubo family, there is an account containing the opinion of Okubo on the government's diplomacy. Okubo writes that "Japan's diplomatic relations are facing a difficult situation, and a war could break out any moment" (Iwata 2005, p. 182). This shows that Okubo was aware of the tension in the negotiations, and because Okubo had connections with artists, it could even be speculated that the artist who painted this scroll had interacted with well-informed people like the Okubo family, and thus, he knew the clear picture of the interactions within the government.

The arrival of foreign ships triggered the awakening of nationalism among the local Japanese people, and strengthened their sense of ethnic identity. Before the arrival of Perry in 1853, Japan had little interaction with the outer world due to its isolation policy. The only countries which were allowed to trade were the Netherlands and China, and the only port open to foreign trade was Nagasaki. Under such situation, the local citizen's awareness of being a unified country was vague, and thus, their sense of belonging only reached as far as their Han (clan) in which they lived. On seeing foreign ships entering the harbor of Uraga for the first time, Japanese nationalism began to emerge inside the Japanese people's mind. In the beginning, this took the form of fear or anxiety against alien culture (Snyder, Montgomery 2003, p. 170). However, at the same time, people were eager to acquaint themselves with foreign cultures and new technologies, and as their interest in the Americans increased, their sense of belonging to Japan was strengthened (Iwata 2005, p. 189). This may have influenced the artist of this drawing as well. The sense of nationalism that emerged inside him could have prompted him to create drawings showing that Japan was never pressed by the Americans to open its ports.

For the reasons mentioned above, the artist of "Trading Umbrellas" was presumably well acquainted with the fact that the Americans were aggressively trying to open Japan to foreign trade. While he painted the series of paintings regarding the exchanges between the two cultures, the artist probably would have had ample chances to gather information about the true image of the negotiations. He had the choice of creating an honest representation of the reality, but he chose to create most of his artworks excluding the negative aspects. In "Trading Umbrellas," the artist inconspicuously drew an American pointing a gun at a Japanese man in the background, possibly trying to add a hint of the stark reality in the peaceful trading scenes. This is most likely because of his emerging sense of belonging to his mother country, an emotion triggered by the encounter with a new culture. The arrival of Perry had a tremendous impact on Japan, both on the government and on individuals. The government suddenly faced a great threat from a powerful nation, and was forced to conduct Japan's diplomacy with extreme care. On the other hand, the citizens of Japan were awakened to a fresh sense of nationalism. Thus, "Trading Umbrellas" is a painting that represents a typical response of individual Japanese who encountered the Americans.

References

Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies. The Meiji Japan through contemporary sources. Tokyo: Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies, 1972.
Iwata, Miyuki. Kurofune ga yattekita: Bakumatsu no joho nettowaku [Black Ships have come: The information networks of the last days of Edogawa Shogunate]. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobun Kan, 2005.
Matsumoto, Kenichi. Kaikoku no katachi [The Forms of the Opening of Japan]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2008.
Snyder, Louis Leo, and John Montgomery. The New Nationalism. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2003.