Black Ships: Illustrated Japanese History--The Americans Arrive

by Sean Michael Wilson, Akiko Shimojima (Illustrator)

On the 14th of July, 1853, the USS Plymouth, Mississippi, Saratoga, and Susquehanna sailed into Yokosuka, Japan. The mysterious "Black Ships" had arrived.

In this stirring account of a pivotal moment in modern Japanese history, award-winning author and illustrator team Sean Michael Wilson and Akiko Shimojima tell the story of the four American "Black Ships" that arrived in Japan in 1853 under the command of Commodore Perry to force Japan to open up to trade. The book compellingly portrays the apprehension and confusion of the Japanese people witnessing the Black Ships steaming into view over the horizon; the anxious response of the samurai; the cat-and-mouse game that ensued; the protracted negotiations; and the eventual agreement signed on March 31st, 1854, as the Treaty of Kanagawa. Historically accurate and with an easy-to-read visual format,  Black Ships  conveys the personalities of the key figures in the on one side, Commodore Perry and his captains, and on the other, Shogunate officials Abe Masahiro and Hayashi Akira. Wilson and Shimojima vividly capture the atmosphere of threat and change that pervaded Japan during Bakumatsu, the final years of the Edo period, as the feudal Tokugawa shogunate took its last breaths and gave way to the new Meiji government.

Genres: History, Comics

120 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2017

About the author

Sean Michael Wilson is a comic book writer from Scotland. He has had around 30 books published with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers, including: a comic book version of A Christmas Carol ('Best of 2008’, Sunday Times), AX:alternative manga ( 'Best ten books of 2010’, Publishers Weekly), Parecomic (with an introduction by Noam Chomsky, his first contribution to a book in graphic form). He is currently writing books for big Japanese publisher Kodansha, being the only British writer to do so. In fact, he is the only pro manga writer from Britain who lives in Japan. He is also the editor of the critically acclaimed collection 'AX:alternative manga' (Publishers Weekly's 'Best ten books of 2010' and nominated for a Harvey award).

Working with various Japanese artists he has written a unique line of Japanese history/martial arts/Samurai books, including The Book of Five Rings, Secrets of the Ninja, The 47 Ronin, and Cold Mountain (winner of China Comic and Animation Competition 2015 ‘Best Overseas Comic’ award). In 2016 his book 'The Faceless Ghost' was nominated for an Eisner Award. In 2017 he became the first British person to receive an International Manga Award from the Japanese Government. In 2019 his book 'The Many Not the Few' was launched by the Labour Party leader in an event in the Houses of Parliament. In 2020 he received the Scottish Samurai Award from an association promoting connections between Japan and Scotland.

He does comic books outside the normal superhero/fantasy brands, going into areas such as history, biography, drama, and social issues, often in collaboration with universities, charities and book publishers. He often gives lectures and talks about comics in schools and colleges, and writes articles for such places as The Japan Times, The London Economic and The Herald Scotland.

Reviews

[Kenny]

Interesting account albeit less than fantastic art

[Patrick]

Why?
I am taking a course on modernizing Japan, and this was the book chosen as the foundation for the short course.

What I thought?
This is a really good introduction to the opening of Japan to the west. For a short work, there is a lot of historical content crammed here, and I came away with a much better understanding of Perry and his strategy for opening Japan to the US. Both sides are given treatment here, and one walks away understanding just how pivotal and terrifying this was.

The art is much akin to Manga, rather than American. I'm not sure if this helped with the book or not, but it is interesting.

[Sean Wilson]

Hi all, I am the writer of this Black Ships book, thanks for your reviews here. It is the 1st in our 'Illustrated Japanese History' series. We tried to do a book that was accurate to the Japanese history of this period. This is the kind of book I would have liked to read myself when I was a teenager!

Please check out some of our other adaptions of Japanese classics and history - we have done 13 now! Such as our book about to come out in April 2018, 'The Satsuma Rebellion’, which is the 2nd in our 'Illustrated Japanese History' series. By good luck, the big Japanese television drama in 2018 is on the same subject (Satsuma Rebellion and Saigo Takamori), so a Japanese version of the book will also come out.

You can see more pages from the book here:
https://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/...

Thanks, Sean

[M.J. Walker]

This is just the kind of illustrated history book i loved when i was a teenager. Its easy to read and you soak up a lot of knowledge of the period without even realising that you are learning while enjoying the read. Excellent illustrations with a lot of attention to detail of clothes, ships, guns, etc.

[Coleen]

This is a Graphic Novel, AKA comic book, but much more. It is an easy read with pictures explaining the U.S. -Japanese involvement from about 1853 through about the next ten to twenty
years, with Belgium, England, Russia interspersed as well. Although I love History, and always did well in the school subject, I remember Commodore Perry. I can't help but think, however, that I might have done even better [and others might have done as well] if I had had supplementary books such as this to add to my understanding of the various points of the historical picture.

There appears to be another book coming, and I am looking forward to it.

Sean Wilson was assisted by Akiko Shimojima in the illustrations in the book.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Anthonia]

A beautifully well-drawn history of events that happened in Japan in 1800's. I enjoyed following this tale of history in picture form. The detail and graphic are fantastic for this history period. A must read for any lovers of books with graphic pictures to show for this story.

[Chris]

I received this book as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

A history comic book is a really cool idea. I don't think that I've seen anything quite like this. The format is easy to read, the dates are offset from the narrative text so they don't get in the way of the story.

Anyhow, content. Till reading this I never really understood how Japan's isolation was ended. Turns out that saying Commodore Perry opened up Japan is a gross oversimplification. More accurately, he showed up with a flotilla and some Marines and explained that Japan was going to open up the the US or else Japan was getting bombarded and invaded. Naturally, the Japanese were a bit miffed by this.

Especially when he returned a few months later with a larger fleet and more Marines in order to force the issue. Ignited conflict within Japan over the shogunate's capitulations and I suspect lead to the Pacific theater of the second world war.

Also, I am somewhat amused by Commodore Perry's hair. Apparently military regulations were a lot looser back then. Perhaps that is why the Japanese officials didn't respect him. Then again they all had man-buns so the lack of respect was mutual. This is why everyone should have short, sensible haircuts. Makes international relations easier.