Commodore Perry
When Commodore Perry obtained the signature of treaties at the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, he brought technological gifts to the Japanese representatives. Among them was a small telegraph and a small steam train complete with tracks. These were promptly studied by the Japanese as well.
Essentially considering the arrival of Western ships as a threat and a factor for destabilization, the Bakufu ordered several of its fiefs to build warships along Western designs. These ships, such as the Hōō-Maru, the Shouhei-Maru, and the Asahi-Maru, were designed and built, mainly based on Dutch books and plans. Some were built within a mere year or two of Perry’s visit. Similarly, steam engines were immediately studied. Tanaka Hisashige, who had made the Myriad year clock, created Japan’s first steam engine, based on Dutch drawings and the observation of a Russian steam ship in Nagasaki in 1853. These developments led to the Satsuma fief building Japan’s first steam ship, the Unkō-Maru (ja:雲行丸), in 1855, barely two years after Japan’s first encounter with such ships in 1853 during Perry’s visit.
In 1858, the Dutch officer Kattendijke would comment:
There are some imperfections in the details, but I take my hat off to the genius of the people who were able to build these without seeing an actual machine, but only relied on simple drawings.(224 words)
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