Book/Printed Material Gasshūkoku shokan wage 合衆国書簡和解 / Title in Chinese reading: Hezhongguo shu jian he jie
About this Item
Title
- Gasshūkoku shokan wage
Other Title
- 合衆国書簡和解
- Title in Chinese reading: Hezhongguo shu jian he jie
Translated Title
- Official Letter of Rapprochement Written by the United States of America
Summary
- On July 8, 1853, at a time when Japan still maintained its Sakoku (closed country) policy, the East India Squadron of the United States Navy, commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794--1858), dropped anchor in the Uraga Strait. Perry conveyed to the Japanese authorities an official letter from U.S. president Millard Fillmore proposing friendship and the establishment of commercial relations between Japan and the United States. Senior Councilor Abe Masahiro (1819-57) decided to accept the letter and promised to give an answer within a year. This was an extraordinary reaction in the context of the Bakufu (shogunate) policy of the time. Abe had Japanese translations made of the official letter and other related letters, showed them to various daimyōs (territorial nobles who ruled over vast private land holdings and large numbers of vassals), and sought their opinions. This collection contains five letters written in classical Chinese, including the official letter from Fillmore and a letter from Perry and their Japanese translations.
Names
- Abe, Masahiro, 1819-1857 Associated Name
- Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874 Author
- Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794-1858 Author
Created / Published
- [Place of publication not identified] : [Publisher not identified], 1853.
Headings
- - Japan
- - United States of America
- - 1853
- - Foreign relations
- - Letters
- - Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794-1858
- - Trade
- - United States Naval Expedition to Japan (1852-1854)
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource at: National Diet Library.
- - Content in Japanese and Chinese.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
- - Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021667464
Online Format
- compressed data
- image