History and Legend in Shimoda, Japan

S. Kathleen Kitao

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Map of Izu Peninsula (Izu Hanto)

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Introduction This is about the city of Shimoda and the area around it. It is based on information that Kenji and Kathi gathered when they visited the area.

Shimoda is a city near the end of the Izu Peninsula. It is a city with an interesting history that has influenced the course of the history of Japan as a whole. The Black Ships of the US navy came to Shimoda Harbor with a demand that Japan open to trade and diplomatic relations, and it was in Shimoda where treaties to open Japan were negotiated and the first foreign consulates were established. Shimoda is also the "home" of the legend of Okichi, a tragic heroine. There are also other sites in the history of Shimoda, and beautiful scenic areas near Shimoda.

Sites Related to the Opening of Japan

Black Ship

Starting in 1600 and for some 250 years, Japan was closed almost completely to the outside world. A few Chinese and Dutch traders lived in a limited number of ports, and Japanese people were not allowed to leave

View from the Path to Shimoda Park

Japan. Americans wanted to have access to Japanese ports in order to be able to take food, water and fuel onto ships en route to Asia. In 1854, seven ships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States navy sailed

View from Shimoda Park

into Shimoda Harbor and demanded that Japan establish trade and diplomatic relations with the United States. Negotiations commenced and treaties were signed in Shimoda. Also in Shimoda, the first US and Russian consulates were established. Therefore, Shimoda is inextricably linked with the opening of Japan to the outside world in the 19th century.

Several sites in Shimoda commemorate the opening of the country.

Ryosenji

Ryosenji -- Ryosenji is the temple where the Shimoda Treaty was signed in June 1854. The signers were Commodore Matthew Perry for the United States and Daigaku Hayashi for the Shogunate. The treaty consisted of thirteen articles and was a supplement to the Kanagawa Treaty. It opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to US ships and

Kago

established diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. There is a small museum at the temple, with various exhibits, including pictures that Japanese drew or painted of foreigners and items related to Perry. Also, inside the temple, a kago that belonged to Okichi (see the next section) can be seen.

Chorakuji

Chorakuji -- In October 1854, Vice Admiral Putyatin of the Russian navy arrived in Shimoda to negotiate a treaty with Japan to establish territorial rights and trade. Negotiations were delayed when Shimoda was hit by a tidal wave which destroyed Putyatin's ship and much of Shimoda, but the negotiations were concluded in December and were signed at Chorakuji. Chorakuji was also the site of the formal exchange of ratified treaties for the Treaty of Kanagawa, which was held in December 1854.

US-Japan Friendship Monument

Kaikoku Kinenhi (Monument to the Opening of Japan) -This monument was built for the centenary of the establishment of relations between the US4 and Japan in 1954. It is a stone monument with relief�fs of Townsend Harris and Matthew Perry and quotations from their writings. Perry�fs quotation is

US-Japan Friendship Monument

"I have come here as a peace maker," and Harris' is "My mission was friendly one in every respect." The monument is located in a park on a hill overlooking Shimoda Harbor.

President Jimmy Carter visited this monument during an official visit to Japan.

Perry Monument

Monument to Commodore Perry -- Next to Shimoda Harbor, at the site where Commodore Matthew Perry stepped ashore in 1854, a monument to him stands. The monument has a bust of Perry and a ship's anchor provided by the US navy.

Gyokusenji

Gyokusenji -- The first US consulate was established at Gyokusenji in 1856. The first US consul was Townsend Harris. There is a

Gaves of Russians and Americans

small museum at the temple as well as a shrine to the first cow slaughtered in Japan for human consumption. Eight foreigners, five Americans and three Russians, are buried at the temple. There is also a monument commemorating the first drinking of cow�fs milk in Japan.

Museum of the Opening of Japan -- This museum, located in a building built in the typical style of Shimoda (a white grid pattern on black slate), has exhibits about the opening of Japan starting in the 1850s.

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