Convention of Kanagawa
Before 1854, trade with Japan was limited to a Dutch monopoly, and Japanese goods imported into Europe primarily comprised porcelain and lacquer ware. The Convention of Kanagawa ended the 200-year Japanese foreign policy of Seclusion and opened up trade between Japan and the West. From the 1860s, "ukiyo-e," Japanese woodblock prints, became a source of inspiration for many Western artists.