Joshua Felizardo: Japan's Last Stand
Joshua Felizardo
While United States Commodore Matthew Perry’s visit to Japan may have been the turning point in Japanese history, it was not the first official meeting between the two countries. That occurred in 1846 when Commodore James Biddle and his ships – the U.S.S. Columbus and U.S.S. Vincennes – arrived in Edo Bay. This lithograph of the event, The U.S.S. Columbus and Vincennes in Japan, was created in 1848 and based on sketches by John Eastly. It showcased the American perspective of the incident while also giving valuable insight into Japan and its response to their arrival. The image was accompanied by an elaborate caption outlining not only the event but also other details not shown in the picture, indicating that this lithograph may have been part of some official report or perhaps a newspaper article. The text revealed much about the nature of the meeting: “As soon as the Ships anchored they were surrounded by a large number of boats from whose warlike appearance much difficulty was not anticipated… No person was allowed to land; and boats passing between one ship and the other were always followed by at least four Japanese armed boats to prevent their landing; and therefore there was no good opportunity of judging as to what the real state of the country might be.”[1] Biddle’s reaction to the Japanese demands was polite and compliant, reminiscent of the incident Professor Howell related in lecture; Biddle was accidentally pushed down by a low-ranking samurai but let the mistake pass rather than call for punishment, which led to his reputation of being weak, especially in comparison to Perry later on.[2] Thus, the text, along with other details not in the text itself, revealed much about the whole event that was not seen in the image alone.
At the same time, plenty of information still resided in the picture alone. In contrast to Perry’s infamous “black ships”, the steam-powered warships that made a significant impression on the Japanese, Biddle’s fleet consisted of two relatively mundane frigates which, while much larger than the Japanese vessels that responded to their arrival, were still comparatively less intimidating, especially since the Japanese had experienced visits from the Dutch, Russians, and British beforehand. Another notable detail was the position of the ships in the image: not only are all the vessels quite far from land (presumably Edo itself), but the Japanese boats clearly separated the two larger American vessels, which emphasized both the compliant and courteous nature the Americans wanted to portray as well as the strong and determined front the Japanese showed despite their technological disadvantage. While Japan’s ability to keep the “Barbarians” out soon wilted in the face of Perry’s daunting visit, this lithograph showed the last time Japan succeeded in its endeavor, before its doors were forced open to the Western World.