Foreigners at the gates: Tokugawa Nariaki’s letter to the shōgunal government in 1853

Abstract

On July 8th, 1853, Commodore Matthew C. Perry leading a five-ship strong fleet landed at Edo Bay, handed over the Presidents’s letter and urged Japan to establish diplomatic contacts with the United States, ending the country’s long history of isolation. In this emergency, Abe Masahiro, chair of the bakufu’s highest council,
asked Tokugawa Nariaki, head of the Mito-Tokugawa branch of the shōgunal family, to propose his opinion on the matter. Nariaki’s letter introduces the views of mitogaku, a political-philosophical school flourishing in Mito. The opinion of this agile, restless lord influenced greatly the contemporary Japanese elite as well as the lower ranks of samurai.