The Black Ships and Japan's fear of becoming a colony

Japan's fear of subordination to a great power is connected to the arrival of the American Black Ships. Forced opening gives military strength and a powerful foreign ally an importance extending beyond individual territorial disputes. During his last visit to Japan, Dr. Clarke repeatedly encountered dioramas of the Black Ships and their connections to particular ports in naval and maritime museums. That personal observation illustrates the continuing visibility of forced opening in maritime historical memory. In this interpretation, engagement with the outside world and effective armed forces are responses to an international system Japan cannot avoid.