1854 Kawaraban Satirical Print of Commodore Perry's 'Black Ships'

Making Light of Perry's Gunboat Diplomacy.

This is a rare c. 1854 kawaraban satirical woodblock print, produced by the pseudonymous Kanoka Mamaro (寒翁窠馬麿), depicting one of Commodore Matthew Perry's 'black ships.' It demonstrates that, even amid a strict regime of censorship, Japanese publishers sought to profit by informing and entertaining the public, including with irreverent takes on the historically significant events underway.

A Closer Look

The print presents one of Perry's black ships in a highly stylized manner reminiscent of depictions of yōkai (ghosts and demons from Japanese mythology), and indeed the flying demon on the stern of the ship is suggestive of a tengu flying demon. As with other kawaraban, the text is written in a cursive kuzushiji style that was understandable to the semi-literate masses of the time but, unfortunately, is virtually indecipherable today, even to Japanese native speakers. Moreover, the kana and kanji that are legible are often non-standard, refer to clearly invented peoples and places, or are nonsense words, such as those meant to imitate foreign words or onomatopoeia. The result is that, like many kawaraban, the exact meaning is elusive to a modern viewer.

However, some details make clear that this work is meant to be irreverent and satirical. Indeed, it looks to be a direct take on another kawaraban - an untitled, unattributed, but well-known depiction of one of Perry's black ships with a demonic figure (perhaps meant to be Perry himself) carved into the bow of the ship (available online in the 'Black Ships and Samurai' module of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Visualizing Cultures website). The work's subtitle (遠遊留西亞國 花美里可衆) is perplexing and could be translated as 'the American people traveling far from Russia', Russia being the main European power with which the Tokugawa had interacted up to that point. It is unclear whether the author or his audience were unaware of the distinction between the two foreign countries or, more likely, whether this is a deliberately humorous conflation. The tengu on the ship's stern is also labeled with a character (留) that could refer to Russia, based on a transliteration of the country's name (留西亞), or is rooted in the character's meaning, a teasing implication that the foreign ships were here to stay.

The ship itself is unusual, with much of it being composed of Japanese items, such as a ceramic dish (serving as a paddlewheel), bottles (replacing cannons), fans (for sails), a coin (for a wheel), and a pipe (for the ship's smokestack). The ship's name, written above the paddlewheel, is the nonsensical Woguchikuchiku Maru (ヲグチクチクマル), perhaps an onomatopoeia of the chugging noise produced by the turning paddlewheel or maybe meant to mimic the long and unfamiliar names of Perry's ships derived from Native American words, the Mississippi and Susquehanna (alternatively, it may also be a form of the phrase グチャグチャ, meaning disordered or messy).

All the people aboard the ship are Japanese rather than American. However, they are engaged in activities typical of other prints of the period depicting arriving foreign ships, such as climbing the rigging and raising sails. On the other hand, a group of people sits eating in what appears to be a teahouse, in place of the captain's quarters (家形).

The Perry Expedition (1852 - 1854)

Commodore Mathew Perry arrived in Japan on July 8, 1853 (Kaei 6). He had a commission from American President Millard Fillmore (1800 - 1874) to force the opening of isolationist Tokugawa Japan's seaports to American trade and diplomacy. For the previous two centuries, Japan operated under a Sakoku (鎖國, 'Locked-Country') policy, which allowed highly restricted trade with the Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki, the Koreans via Tsushima, and some other narrow channels for exchange (such as diplomatic missions), but otherwise prevented foreigners from visiting Japan, Japanese from leaving Japan, and trade between Japanese and foreigners. The United States, at the time rapidly growing in power, was increasingly active in Japanese waters and in the China trade. Between 1790 and 1853, at least 27 U.S. ships (including three warships) visited Japan, only to be turned away. Aside from commercial interest, American and other countries' ships increasingly employed steam power and required coaling stations at regular intervals if making long-distance or circumnavigational journeys.

When Perry's squadron arrived in Edo Bay, he was met with an armada of Japanese guard boats. Perry responded by firing blanks from all 73 of his cannons and began a campaign of intimidation, flying the white flag, but threatening violence. The Japanese populace was understandably concerned about the strange ships, generically referred to as 'black ships' (kurofune 黒船) because of the pitch used to waterproof their hulls. Ultimately, the Japanese accepted Fillmore's letter of demands, and Perry left a week after his startling arrival, promising to return the following year to receive their response.

In the meantime, Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyoshi (徳川家慶; 1793 - July 27, 1853) died and was succeeded by his sickly young son, Tokugawa Iesada (徳川家定; 1824 - 1858), leaving effective administration in the hands of Abe Masahiro (阿部正弘; 1819 - 1857) and a Council of Elders (Rōjū; 老中). Abe felt that it was currently impossible for Japan to resist the American demands by military force and, by the time Perry returned in 1854, decided to accept virtually all the demands in Fillmore's letter. After much wrangling, the tiny fishing village of Yokohama was chosen to become a foreign concession and American fueling station. Other Western powers rushed to sign similar treaties with Japan, and in the following years Japan's economy, society, and culture underwent a traumatic period of upheaval, resulting in the collapse of the Tokugawa with the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Kawaraban and Tokugawa Censorship

The Tokugawa Shogunate was highly sensitive to potential sedition or unrest, having unified Japan following decades of warfare and never fully gaining the acceptance of daimyo and samurai in the southern domains. As publications were heavily censored, the Japanese general populace, curious about major events, turned to illicit kawaraban (瓦版, literally 'tile plates') for information. Kawaraban, as here, were broadside or handbill publications quickly printed (usually anonymously) in response to major news events and distributed for a small fee. As with similar contemporary publications in the West, readers sought entertainment and sensationalism more than rigorous journalism. The overwhelming prevalence of kana versus kanji in the present example, typical of kawaraban, further indicates that the intended audience was the masses rather than the elite. As most kawaraban were produced cheaply and intended to be read and discarded, few survive, and those that do are invaluable historical resources.

Publication History and Census

This work is attributed to the pseudonymous Kanoka Mamaro (寒翁窠馬麿) and was likely printed during or just after Perry's second visit in 1854, which involved more interaction and visibility than the first visit the previous year. It was one of a range of kawaraban printed in the wake of Perry's return; the Tokugawa government naturally sought to strictly limit information about such a sensitive event, but the public, just as naturally, found ways to satisfy their curiosity and circumvent these controls. But as these kawaraban were both ephemeral and potentially subversive, very few survive. We are aware of only one other example of this work, held as part of a collection of road maps and other contemporary ephemera (街道絵図ほか) at Tenri University.

Condition

Good. Some discoloration along bottom border. Laid down on paper, older Japanese-style restoration.

References

Tenri University Library, Call No. [請求記号] H291.01//125, Document No. [資料番号] 0501071.