Author Description

In 1853-54, Commodore Matthew C. Perry visited Japan bearing gifts, but his greatest legacy was the ideas that were ushered into Japan in subsequent decades. We know that Perry's visits to Japan heralded a period of much greater exchange with the West, but what was the nature of those interactions? The contributors to this book explore this question as well as the role of the Japanese state in shaping both scientific and business relations at that time.