For over 200 years, Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate enforced a policy of national seclusion known as 'sakoku.'

In 1853, U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry sailed a squadron of four American warships into Edo (Tokyo) Bay.

These steam-powered, heavily armed ships, known as the 'Black Ships,' caused great alarm in Japan.

Perry carried a letter from U.S. President Millard Fillmore demanding that Japan open its ports to American trade and assist shipwrecked American sailors.

This act was a form of 'gunboat diplomacy,' using an intimidating show of military force to achieve diplomatic goals.

Perry departed after delivering the letter, promising to return the following year for an answer.

He returned in 1854 with a larger fleet, and the shogunate, realizing it could not resist American military technology, agreed to negotiate.

The resulting Treaty of Kanagawa opened two Japanese ports to American ships and established a U.S. consulate.

This treaty effectively ended Japan's long period of isolation.

The forced opening of Japan triggered a domestic crisis that led to the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.