Convention of Kanagawa

The 1854 agreement between Japan and the United States opened Shimoda and Hakodate to American ships, provided for assistance to shipwrecked sailors, and established diplomatic relations.

Treaty of Amity and Commerce: The 1858 treaty that expanded U.S.–Japan trade and granted Americans additional privileges in Japan. It replaced the Convention’s limited port access with broader commercial relations.
Treaty port: A port opened to foreign access and governed by treaty provisions, often with special commercial or legal arrangements. Shimoda and Hakodate were designated for American ships under the Convention.
Matthew C. Perry: A United States Navy commodore who led the 1853–1854 expedition that negotiated the Convention of Kanagawa. He presented the American demands and signed the agreement for the United States.
Harris Treaty: The 1858 U.S.–Japan treaty that opened additional ports, expanded trade, and granted extraterritorial privileges to Americans. Unlike the Convention, it established broad commercial access and more extensive foreign rights.
Meiji Restoration: The political transformation beginning in 1868 that restored imperial rule and dismantled the Tokugawa shogunate. The pressures unleashed by unequal treaties contributed to the crisis that ended Tokugawa rule.
Shimoda: A Japanese port on the Izu Peninsula that became one of the ports open to American ships under the Convention. It was the first of the two ports named in the agreement.
Tokugawa Ieyoshi: The twelfth shogun of Japan, who ruled from 1837 to 1853 during the arrival of Perry’s expedition. His government faced the initial American demands, though he died before the treaty was signed.
Treaty of Tientsin: A series of 1858 treaties that expanded Western access and privileges in China after the Second Opium War. It illustrates the wider treaty-port system shaping Western demands in East Asia during this era.
Bakumatsu: The final years of the Tokugawa shogunate, marked by foreign pressure and domestic political upheaval. The Convention was a defining event in this period of political disruption.
Hakodate: A port in southern Hokkaido opened to American ships under the Convention of Kanagawa. It was the agreement’s second designated port, opening in 1855.

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