Commodore Matthew Perry pried open the door to Japan, and the first American to pass through it was Townsend Harris.
Perry's 1854 treaty with the Japanese government opened Shimoda, at the tip of the Izu Peninsula, south of Edo (now Tokyo), to American ships and allowed the appointment of a consul there. Harris landed at Shimoda on Aug. 23, 1856 and established the first consulate on Japanese soil at Gyokusen-ji Temple.
In addition to his consular duties, Harris was tasked with concluding a commercial treaty, as stated in a letter he brought from U.S. President Franklin Pierce for the shogun. Harris' journal paints a vivid picture of Shimoda and details his vexing negotiations with the town's two governors, Inoue, lord of Shinano, and Okada, lord of Bingo. His hallelujahs to the beauty of the countryside and the industry of the people counterpoint his criticism of Japanese officials. "They are the greatest liars on earth," he wrote in his journal on Jan. 8, 1857.