Breaking Open Japan: Commodore Perry, Lord Abe, and American Imperialism in 1853

Breaking Open Japan: Commodore Perry, Lord Abe, and American Imperialism in 1853

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SKU: SONG0060884320
UPC: 9780060884321
Brand: Smithsonian
Regular price$10.09
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On July 14, 1853, the four warships of America s East Asia Squadron made for Kurihama, 30 miles south of the Japanese capital, then called Edo. It had come to pry open Japan after her two and a half centuries of isolation and nearly a decade of intense planning by Matthew Perry, the squadron commander. The spoils of the recent Mexican SpanishAmerican War had whetted a powerful American appetite for using her soaring wealth and power for commercial and political advantage.Perry s cloaking of imperial impulse in humanitarian purpose was fully matched by Japanese selfdeception. High among the country s articles of faith was certainty of its protection by heavenly power. A distinguished Japanese scholar argued in 1811 that Japanese differ completely from and are superior to the peoples of...all other countries of the world. So began one of history s greatest political and cultural clashes.In Breaking Open Japan, George Feifer makes this drama new and relevant for today. At its heart were two formidable men: Perry and Lord Masahiro Abe, the political mastermind and real authority behind the Emperor and the Shogun. Feifer gives us a fascinating account of sealed off Japan and shows that Perry s aggressive handling of his mission had far reaching consequences for Japan and the United States well into the twentieth if not twentyfirst century.

⚠️ WARNING (California Proposition 65):

This product may contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

For more information, please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

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