07/06/2026
Matthew Perry sailed four black warships into Tokyo Bay — and knocked on a door that had been locked for 200 years.
America turns 250 today. And its wildest story with Japan started with that knock.
In 1776, while thirteen colonies were declaring independence, Japan was sealed shut. No foreigners in. No Japanese out. On pain of death.
Then in July 1853, Perry anchored his fleet off Edo — and Japan saw something it had never seen before: steamships, belching black smoke into the sky.
Panicked artists drew them as fire-breathing sea dragons.
Perry delivered a letter demanding Japan open its ports, refused to leave, and promised to return with a bigger fleet. Six months later he was back with nine warships — and Japan signed its first treaty with the West.
At the signing, the Americans gifted a miniature steam locomotive and a telegraph machine. The Japanese answered with sumo wrestlers carrying 200-pound bales of rice.
Then Japan did something no nation has done before or since.
It modernized faster than any country in history — and within 50 years of Perry's arrival, it crushed the Russian Empire's navy and shocked the entire world.
The two countries went on to fight the bloodiest war the Pacific has ever seen.
And then something stranger happened: they became each other's closest friends.
Today, more American troops are stationed in Japan than in any other country on Earth.
Happy 250th, America. 🇺🇸🤝🇯🇵
