Black Ships in Japan: The American Perspective

American lithograph depicting Commodore James Biddle's 1846 mission to Japan

             BY CALEB SHELBURNE: “The U.S.S. Columbus and Vincennes in Japan” is a lithograph created based on sketches by John Eastly, who accompanied Commodore James Biddle on the first official American mission to Japan in 1846.[1] Eastly’s purpose was to accurately record the mission for official review, but converting the sketches into a lithograph allowed such work to reach a far wider audience, most commonly through publication in magazines or journals.[2] The caption details the mission for the general public and was added later by the publisher.

             Biddle’s goal was to open Japan to trade with the U.S., then embroiled in the Mexican-American War, as part of a larger policy of expansion into and around the Pacific.[3] However, this was not achieved; Biddle left empty-handed after politely demurring to Japanese demands for his departure.[4] In Japanese accounts of the mission, Biddle’s quick departure demonstrated the harmlessness of America, but the American perspective represented in this image tells a different story.[5] 

            The caption, though accurately explaining the course of the visit, omits Biddle’s failure to open Japan. A condescending disregard for Japanese power also surfaces at several points in the caption, including the dismissal of the Japanese navy, “from whose warlike appearance much difficulty was not anticipated.” The word ‘warlike’ emphasizes the initial hostile approach of the Japanese, and frames the rest of the history as an American triumph through intimidation rather than violence. Furthermore, the final sentence referring to the Americans as ‘barbarians’ is meant to shock, and perhaps even amuse, the viewers, who can easily tell that the power disparity favored the Americans greatly. 

            While the image itself is probably realistic, certain aspects of its construction serve to reinforce the caption’s implicit ethnocentrism. The focal point of the lithograph is the closer ship, the U.S.S Columbus, with its dark hull and intricate rigging. Cannon clearly protrude from the gunwales, emphasizing the Columbus’ immense firepower and combat readiness. By contrast, there are no Japanese boats with more than one deck, almost all are propelled by oars, and no sort of armament is visible. The shading of the foreground is constructed as a triangle, drawing the eye up from the hull of the Columbus to its flag, which almost appears to be planted atop a mountain in the background. The Vincennes in the center left seems smaller, but still towers over the surrounding Japanese flotilla.

            The background is relatively empty, with forested hills and clouds framing the cluster of boats in the foreground. Almost all of the lithograph’s detail is concentrated on the ships, creating a sense of separation between the American ships and the land itself. Besides a small building up and right of the Vincennes, Japan appears unpopulated and empty. While the power difference between the Americans and the Japanese is clear through comparison of the ships, the background is beyond them both, an uncivilized land that calls for future exploration: America’s mission to discover, postponed by the Commodore’s polite adherence to Japanese demands, is far from over.