Of course, the employment of the Gregorian calendar in Japan is of comparatively recent occurrence, so that it would be quite proper to divide up the century according to the old Japanese custom of periods, or eras,[82] of varying length. This system was introduced from China and has prevailed since 645 A. D. A new era was always chosen “whenever it was deemed necessary to commemorate an auspicious or ward off a malign event.” It is interesting, by the way, to notice that, immediately after Commodore Perry’s arrival (1853), the name of the period was changed for a good omen! Hereafter these eras will correspond with the reigns of the emperors.

But it is really more intelligible to divide the history of the century into six periods of well-determined duration. Each one of these periods, moreover, may be accurately named in accord with the distinguishing characteristic of that period. It must, however, be clearly understood that these distinctions are not all absolute, but rather relative. It is also possible, without an undue stretch of the imagination, to trace, in the order of the periods, the general progress that has marked the history of New Japan. These periods are as follows:—

I.Seclusion (1801-1853).
II.Treaty-making (1854-1858).
III.Civil Commotions (1858-1868).
IV.Reconstruction (1868-1878).
V.Internal Development (1879-1889).
VI.Constitutional Government (1889-1900).[83]

It is of special interest for Americans to notice that the third and fourth periods are almost contemporaneous with the periods of Civil War and Reconstruction in the United States.

We now take up each period in detail.

I. Period of Seclusion (1801-1853).
CHRONOLOGY.

1804.Resanoff, Russian Embassy.
1807.The “Eclipse” of Boston at Nagasaki.
1808.The British frigate “Phaethon” at Nagasaki.
1811-1813.Golownin’s captivity in Yezo.
1818.Captain Gordon (British) in Yedo Bay.
1825-1829.Dr. Von Siebold (Dutch) in Yedo.
1827.Beechey (British) in “Blossom” at Loo Choo Islands.
1837.The “Morrison” Expedition in Yedo Bay.
1844.Letter[84] from King William II. of Holland.
1845.American whaler “Mercator” in Yedo Bay.
British frigate “Saramang” at Nagasaki.
1846.Dr. Bettelheim in Loo Choo Islands.
Wreck of American whaler “Lawrence” on Kurile Islands.
(United States) Commodore Biddle’s Expedition in Yedo Bay.
1848.Wreck of American whaler “Ladoga” off Matsumai, Yezo.
Ronald McDonald landed in Japan.
1849.United States “Preble” in Nagasaki harbor.
British “Mariner” in Yedo Bay.
1853.Shōgun Iyeyoshi died.
Commodore Perry in Yedo Bay.

It needs only a few words to summarize this period which includes the final days of the two-edged policy of exclusion and inclusion, which forbade not only foreigners to enter, but also Japanese to leave, the country. It would not even allow Japanese ship-wrecked on other shores to be brought back to their native land, as several futile attempts mentioned above attest. Nagasaki was the only place where foreign trade was allowed, and there only in a slight degree with Chinese and Dutch. The events of this period are almost all vain attempts to open Japan. Two important events concern the Loo Choo Islands, then independent, and later visited also by Commodore Perry on his way from China to Japan. Ronald McDonald was an Oregon boy, who, “voluntarily left adrift, got into Yezo, and thence to Nagasaki.” He is reported to have puzzled the Japanese authorities by stating that in America “the people are king and the source of authority”! This period of seclusion came to an end on July 14, 1853, when the Japanese, contrary to their own laws, received from Commodore Perry the letter from President Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan.[85]

II. Period of Treaty-Making (1854-1858).
CHRONOLOGY.

1854.Perry’s treaty of peace and amity.
British treaty of peace and amity.
1855.Russian treaty of peace and amity.
Terrible earthquake.
1856.Fire in Yedo; 100,000 lives lost.
Dutch treaty of peace and amity.
Townsend Harris, United States Consul, arrived.
1857.Harris in audience with the Shōgun.
1858.Harris treaty of trade and commerce.
Elgin treaty of trade and commerce.