Black Ships The Black Ships ( in Japanese , 黒船 , kurofune , Edo Period term ) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries . In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts , establishing a trade route linking Goa to Nagasaki . The large carrack s engaged in this trade had the hull painted black with pitch , and the term came to represent all western vessels . In 1639 , after suppressing a rebellion blamed on the Christian influence , the ruling Tokugawa shogunate retreated into an isolationist policy , the Sakoku . During this “ locked state , ” contact with Japan by Westerners was restricted to Dejima island at Nagasaki . In 1844 , William II of the Netherlands urged Japan to open , but was rejected . On July 8 , 1853 , the U . S . Navy steamed four warships into the bay at Edo and under threat of attack demanded that Japan open to trade with the West . Their arrival marked the reopening of the country after more than two hundred years of self - imposed isolation . In particular , Kurofune refers to " Mississippi " , " Plymouth " , " Saratoga " , and " Susquehanna " , that arrived on July 14 , 1853 at Uraga Harbor ( part of present - day Yokosuka ) in Kanagawa Prefecture , Japan under the command of United States Commodore Matthew Perry . " Black " refers to the black color of the older sailing vessels , and the black smoke from the coal - fired power plants of the American ships . In this sense , the Kurofune became a symbol of the ending of isolation . First kurofune ships : nau do trato . In 1543 Portuguese traders arrived in Japan initiating the first contacts with the West . Soon they established a trade route linking their headquarters in Goa , via Malacca to Nagasaki . Large carrack s engaged in the flourishing " Nanban trade " , introducing modern firearms to Japan , arquebuses , a major innovation of the Sengoku period a time of intense internal warfare , and also refined sugar , optics and other inventions . Later , they engaged in triangular trade , exchanging silver from Japan with silk from China via Macau . Large carracks of 1200 to 1600 tons - named " nau do trato " ( " treaty ship " ) , and China ' s " " nau " s by the Portuguese - engaged in this trade had the hull painted black with pitch , and the term came to name all western vessels . The name was inscribed in the Nippo Jisho , the first western Japanese dictionary compiled in 1603 . In 1549 missionary Francis Xavier started a Jesuit mission in Japan . Christianity spread , mingled with the new trade , making 300 , 000 converts among peasants and some daimyō ( warlords ) . In 1637 the Shimabara Rebellion blamed on the Christian influence was suppressed . Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries faced progressively tighter restrictions , and were confined to the island of Dejima before being expelled in 1639 . The Tokugawa shogunate retreated back into a policy of isolationism , the Sakoku ( 鎖国 ? , " locked country " ) forbidding contact with most outside countries . Only a limited - scale trade and diplomatic relations with China , Korea , the Ryukyu Islands and the Netherlands was maintained . The Sakoku policy remained in effect until 1853 with the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry and the opening of Japan . Gunboat diplomacy . Commodore Perry ' s superior military force was a factor in negotiating a treaty allowing American trade with Japan , thus effectively ending the period of more than 200 years in which trading with Japan had been permitted to the Dutch and Chinese exclusively . The following year , at the Convention of Kanagawa , Perry returned with eight ships and was presented by the shogun ' s officials with the " Treaty of Peace and Amity " , establishing formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States . Within five years , Japan had signed similar treaties with other western countries . The Harris Treaty was signed with the United States on July 29 , 1858 . The surprise and confusion these ships inspired are described in this famous kyoka ( a humor ous poem similar to the 5 - line waka ) : This poem is a complex set of puns ( in Japanese , " kakekotoba " or " pivot words " ) . " Taihei " ( 泰平 ) means " tranquil " ; " Jōkisen " ( 上喜撰 ) is the name of a costly brand of green tea containing large amounts of caffeine ; and " shihai " ( 四杯 ) means " four cups " , so a literal translation of the poem is : There is an alternate translation , based on the pivot words . " Taihei " can refer to the " Pacific Ocean " ( 太平 ) ; " jōkisen " also means " steam - powered ships " ( 蒸気船 ) ; and " shihai " also means " four vessels " . The poem , therefore , has a hidden meaning : ' Black Ships ' ( Kurofune ) is also the title of the first Japanese Opera , composed by Kosaku Yamada , " based on the story of Tojin Okichi , a geisha caught up in the turmoil that swept Japan in the waning years of the Tokugawa shogunate " and premiered in 1940 . In popular culture . A TV miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain entitled " Shōgun " ( 1980 ) was based on a novel of the same name by James Clavell , described the fictional experiences of an English sea pilot named John Blackthorne , shipwrecked in Japan around 1600 . Blackthorne makes frequent mention of wanting to attack the Black Ship , with his own ship , the " Erasmus . " Another film concerning Perry ' s arrival in Japan was " The Bushido Blade " ( 1981 ) starring Richard Boone as Commodore Perry .