On January 6, 2010, I was very pleased to receive in the mail a book from Japan and in Japanese that Ms. Hiroko Todoroki had mailed to me on November 2, 2009.  Hiroko had mailed it at the request of Mr. Toshio Fujimoto, who was the publisher of the book printed in Japan in 2009 by his company, Banraisha, Inc.  I had met Hiroko in Japan during my trip in July 2009 as part of an international cultural exchange.  She was the main reason I was invited to go to Japan and also the person that had told Mr. Fujimoto that I was related to Commodore Perry.

That serendipitous connection was the main reason he wanted me to have a copy of the book entitled, 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.  The book contains the United States Congressional Document of communication to Japan and the eventual signing in 1854 of the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the U.S. and Japan (Treaty of Kanagawa). 

This is the first time that the Narrative, which was published in 1856 by the U.S. Congress, has been translated into Japanese for easy accessibility for the people of Japan. 

The book arrived in perfect condition in spite of the long delay, which in mid-December had prompted Mr. Fujimoto to send me another copy directly from his publishing company, which I received on February 1, 2010.  I will donate this second copy to the Manjiro Whitfield Friendship Society, a Japanese/American group, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, that has members and visitors who can read Japanese.

The night the book arrived I stayed up until 11 PM and went through every page carefully.  I compared all the beautiful lithographs and wood cuts that Mr. Fujimoto had reproduced with the originals in the first volume of the threevolume set of Commodore Perry's narrative in my library.  I was very impressed with the quality of the book in general and the quality of the graphics. 

Although I can't read the Japanese characters, I could easily follow where each chapter began and also appreciated the nice way he had outlined the various letters written by the Commodore and others that were reproduced.  One figure that I was especially interested in locating was the lithograph of the "Public Bath at Shimoda" that the new book has reproduced on page 275.

This indicates that the publisher’s original copy in English was one of the first published, as the U.S. Congress withdrew that picture early in the printing process as they thought it was not in good taste due to nudity.  That picture is not in my copy (that I received as a wedding present from my cousin, Louise DeWolf, in 1966) and I understand from antique book dealers that copies with the picture are worth much more money.  It is interesting to think how much we have changed our morals in the U.S. when you consider what is printed in books today and distributed on the internet.  Although Commodore Perry was very impressed with his visit to Shimoda and the people there, he does write some rare disparagingly remarks in the Narrative text near where this picture was printed. 

When speaking of the people of Shimoda, Japan, after his 1854 visit to this town, Commodore Perry wrote the following in his journal: 
"The people have all the characteristic courtesy and reserved but pleasing manners of the Japanese.  A scene at one of the public baths, where the sexes mingled indiscriminately, unconscious of their nudity, was not calculated to impress the Americans with a very favorable opinion of the morals of the inhabitants.  

This may not be a universal practice throughout Japan, and indeed is said by the Japanese near us not to be; but the Japanese people of the inferior ranks are undoubtedly, notwithstanding their moral superiority to most oriental nations, a lewd people.  Apart from the bathing scenes, there was enough in the popular literature, with its obscene pictorial illustrations, to prove a licentiousness of taste and practice among a certain class of population that was not only disgustingly intrusive, but disgracefully indicative of foul corruption.” 

Wow, these were very strong comments.  At that time our nations had very different opinions of the civility of each country and the people.  Fortunately, over time we realized it is not so much the variation between the two cultures, but the greater variation within each culture.  I feel this book will be a great addition to the libraries in Japan so persons can gain a better perspective on the purpose of the trip to Japan by the U.S. fleet under the command of Commodore Perry, but also hopefully will get a better understanding of the value of each other's culture, from the past and in the present, so that we can be better neighbors on the world stage and share our similar fundamental values. 

An example of how we can change our attitude with better education occurred in the summer of 2009 when I was in Japan.  I met a Japanese college student at an international exchange reception.  In very good English she stated to me that she had written a report on Commodore Perry when she was in high school, and then stated strongly that she “did not like him.”  However, in college she had studied him more extensively and now thought he was a “great man.”  I also could see attitude changes with our American travelers and with myself during the trip as we learned more about each other’s cultures.