Monopolists to Middlemen: Dutch Liberalism and American Imperialism in the Opening of Japan
The Perry Expedition is widely regarded as a pivotal event in the his tories of Japa and the United States. If a m re nuanced view tells us that it was only one step in a large and complex process, the expedi tion and the treaty that resulted from it represent the first success of American gunboat diplomacy in the Pacific, and the beginning of the end of Japanese isolationism. As a result, scholars from these countries periodically return to reexamine the event. Some of the most recent of these studies in English include George Feifer, Breaking Open Japan, William McOmie, The Opening of Japan, and Mitani Hiroshi, Escape from Impasse: The Decision to Open Japan.1 Traditionally, the success of this mission is credited to Commodore Perry himself. According to Japanologist Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935): "To speak plainly, Perry triumphed by frightening the weak, ignorant, utterly unprepared Japanese out of their senses. If he did not use his cannon, it is only