Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan: Performed in the Years 1852, 1853, and 1854, Under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy

by Matthew Calbraith Perry

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Genres: History, Japan, Travel, Nonfiction, Asia

824 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1856

About the author

Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858) was a Commodore of the United States Navy and commanded a number of ships. He served in several wars, most notably in the Mexican–American War and the War of 1812. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.

Reviews

[Kaze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful. I wish every historical document came in such form.

[? · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japan and its people are a work of art to be appreciated You may look, but don't touch.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Narrative of the Expedtion to the China Seas and Japan credits Commodore Perry withauthorshiop although it was compiled by Francis L. Hawks, a minister for the Episcopalian Church famous at this time for a number of wrtings. He used the journals of Perry, his officers,and several scientific members of the expedition but the language appears to be mainly his own. It's necessary to make a note of this as much of the language contains perjorative remarks about the people and habits encountered and I have trouble believing that serving officers would have written in such a way in what would have been considered formal documents. On the other hand, I don't think it's up to us to judge the language of the past by the standards of today.

The prejudices were common to the West of that day and I imagine that the opposite side held equally strange ones of their own although we don't see them here. They are typical - the natives of various islands are "simple", "sweet" or "obedient". The Chinese are "degenerate" and the Japanese said to be cunning and "wily". There is a bizarre explanation given for the existence of the Japanese race and the author literally traces their origin in Mesopotamia and follows them to their eventual finding of the Japanese Islands. This struck me as so odd that I re-read it a few times trying to make sense of it and then realized that this was written before Darwin! There is also a hilarious description of their first exposure to Sumo wrestlers. *6*

Once you adjust to this, the narrative is excellent and detailed in everything about Perry's mission. There are also interesting chapters on the customs and culture and a complete analysis of the flora and fauna of wherever thaey went. The reason for the expedition was, of course, to open Japan to the nations of the world. Apparently, the West could not tolerate the fact that Japan had isolated herself from the Western nations and were simply determined to make her open up. Many tried. Commodore Perry succeeded.