The Japanese Discovery of America: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series in History & Culture)

by Peter Duus (Author)



This brief documentary history chronicles the nineteenth-century (1837-1871) encounters between Japan and the United States that led to the opening of Japanese society to Western influence. An extensive introduction describes American attempts to overturn Japan's long-standing policy of isolation (culminating in the 1853-1854 Perry Expedition) and considers the lasting effects of Japan's fascination with a culture radically different from its own. Reinforcing the book's double-sided perspective are 43 documents - including poems, broadsheets, newspaper articles, and illustrations - that demonstrate how new views of the "other" were established on both sides of the Pacific. Headnotes to the documents, a brief glossary, a chronology, a bibliography, and an index are also included.