VADM Yoji Koda of the JMSDF(ret.) presented the “Untold Stories of the Black-Ship Visit: Behind the Curtains of Admiral Perry’s Arrival” at PLAT ABC on June 4th, 2023. This marks the 3rd seminar in Iwakuni as part of the YCAPS-SPF Community Conversations series. VADM Koda was joined by around 35 community members for an eye-opening discussion. VADM Koda delved deep into the history leading up to Admiral Perry’s historic visit, opening the curtains to show key events that led up to the visit, including the origins of the Tokugawa Bakufu’s closed country policy, the relationship with European powers of the time such as the Dutch, and importantly, the previous American visit by Commodore James Biddle seven years earlier in 1846. This discussion helped the audience to really understand what the Tokugawa Shogunate and other key decision makers in Japan were thinking at the time of Perry’s visit as well as the pressure that the shogunate was under during this key moment in Japanese history.
