1853–1854Reputable sourceWell documented
Perry and the Opening of Japan
On the timeline · around 1853–1854 · Feudal Japan
What happened
In 1853 a squadron of American warships under Commodore Matthew Perry steamed into Edo Bay and demanded that Japan open to trade. Overawed by the 'Black Ships,' the shogunate signed the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854, ending more than two centuries of isolation and opening Japanese ports to the United States.
Why it matters
Perry's arrival forced Japan into the modern international system on unequal terms. The humiliation discredited the shogunate and set off the crisis that would topple it.