Commodore Perry was an American naval officer. He was notable for the signing of Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. This treaty was important in opening up Japan’s relations with Western countries, since prior to 1854, Europeans had almost limited or no contact with the Japanese. This volatile period saw the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, where Japan concluded with the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the development of Japan as a modern nation state.
Hence, Commodore Perry’s was significant as he allowed USA to be the first nation with extra territorial trading rights in Japan. Combined with the Asian security climate in the 1850s9Opium Wars, Arrow War, etc) and the rise of colonialism, Japan saw such pressures threatening and hence had to concede by opening of several ports to foreign trade. Hence, the privy council, on fear of having to deal with foreign colonists just like China had after the Opium Wars, decided to embark on a program of economic and military modernization, angering the conservative Imperialists (Shogunate). These factors cultimated to the economic development of Japan in the late 19th Century. Consequently, it can be said that Commodore Perry’s arrival led to a chain of events which propelled Japan not only as a military superpower but an economic force in Asia in the early 20th century.
