Treaty ofKanagawa (1854)

Abstract

The Treaty of Kanagawa of 1854 (also known as the Treaty of Peace and Amity) between the United States and Japan ended the latter's selective isolation, which had stood for more than two centuries. Negotiated by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794–1858) and representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate, the treaty protected shipwrecked sailors, opened two supply ports, allowed the appointment of US consuls, and established most‐favored‐nation status for the United States in Japan. A product of gunboat diplomacy, it was the first of the unequal treaties that limited Japan's sovereignty in its relations with Western nations.