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The Black ShipsThe Black Ships (in Japanese, 黒船: kurofune) was the name given to four ships, Mississippi, Plymouth, Saratoga, and Susquehanna, under the command of United States Commodore Matthew Perry that arrived in 1853 at Uraga Harbor (part of present-day Yokosuka) in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The word "black" refers to the black smoke from coal-fired power plants and the black color of these American ships. Commodore Perry's superior military force enabled him to negotiate a treaty allowing American trade with Japan, ending a 200-year period of Japanese isolation. The following year, at the Convention of Kanagawa, Perry returned with seven ships and forced the shogun to sign 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 humorous poem similiar to the 5-line waka): | style="padding-right: 2em" |Taihei no | | style="padding-right: 2em" | ねむりをさます | style="padding-right: 2em" |Nemuri wo samasu | | style="padding-right: 2em" | じょうきせん | style="padding-right: 2em" |Jokisen | | tyle="padding-right: 2em" | たったしはいで | style="padding-right: 2em" |Tatta shihai de | | style="padding-right: 2em" | よるもねむれず | style="padding-right: 2em" |Yoru mo nemurezu | This poem is a complex set of puns (in Japanese, kakekotoba or "pivot words"). Jokisen (上喜撰) is the name of a costly brand of green tea containing large amounts of caffeine, and shihai means "four cups", so a literal translation of the poem is: - Awoken from sleep
- of a peaceful quiet world
- by Jokisen tea
- with only four cups of it
- no more sleep possible at night
However, jokisen (蒸気船) can also be translated as "steam-powered ships", and shihai can also be used to refer to four vessels. The poem has a deeper meaning, which is: - The steamships
- break the peaceful slumber
- of the Pacific
- a mere four boats are enough
- to make us lose sleep at night.
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