[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1201-E1202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED STATES-JAPAN TREATY OF 
                    MUTUAL COOPERATION AND SECURITY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2010

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 150th 
Anniversary of the First Japanese Diplomatic Mission to the United 
States as the Museum for the City of New York pays tribute to Samurai 
in New York--The First Japanese Delegation, 1860.
  On March 17, 1860, exactly 150 years ago today, a sailing ship flying 
a flag never before seen in North America entered the Golden Gate. It 
was the Kanrin Maru, the first Japanese ship ever to cross the Pacific 
on its arrival to San Francisco, California. Japan had been closed to 
the rest of the world for more than 200 years until 1854, when 
Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron of American warships forced 
the Japanese to open their doors to trade.
  The Kanrin Maru had a difficult and stormy 37-day voyage from Japan 
when it set sail in the winter of 1860. During its time of isolation, 
the Japanese had had no oceangoing ships and only one member of the 
Japanese crew had ever been beyond the sight of land. This epic voyage 
continued until the ship arrived in San Francisco, when the crew's 
first appearance was revealed on American soil.
  At that time, San Franciscans were familiar with the Chinese 
immigrants in California, but were amazed to see this delegation of 
distinguished men, so noted by the senior man aboard, Admiral Yoshitake 
Kimura, who had a shaved head and a topknot in the manner of a samurai. 
It was also observed and reported by the San Francisco Evening Bulletin 
that there had been important officers who carried two swords and were 
obsessed with etiquette. It is also noted that these men always wore 
robes and never wore hats.
  On the other hand, the Japanese were surprised that San Franciscans 
walked on expensive rugs with their muddy boots. They were astonished 
that the powerful governor of California traveled without an escort of 
retainers and that Americans used horses to pull their carriages. They 
were also amazed that American men treated women as equals.
  Twelve days after the arrival of the Kanrin Maru, the USS Powhatan 
arrived bringing the first Japanese Embassy to the United States to 
ratify the new treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between 
the United States and Japan. Sent by the Tokugawa Shogunate were three 
Ambassadors, Masaoki Shinmi, Norimasa Muragaki and Tadamasa Oguri whom 
headed the mission to exchange instruments of ratification of the 
Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The delegation also included a group of 
approximately eighty samurai diplomats. The delegation officially 
arrived

[[Page E1202]]

in San Francisco on March 29, stopped in Washington, DC on May 14 via 
Panama, then went on to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and, finally, to New 
York.
  The arrival of the Japanese in Washington DC was a major event, and 
Congress granted a $50,000 budget, almost $1.5 million in today's 
dollars, to entertain them. On March 28th, the mission paid its 
official visit to President James Buchanan.
  On June 18, 1860, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers packed the 
streets of Manhattan to watch the sword-toting samurai parade on 
Broadway during the diplomatic two-week stay in New York. The 
unprecedented throng of New Yorkers lined the parade route from Lower 
Manhattan to Union Square, hoping to glimpse the exotic visitors. The 
great Walt Whitman was on hand and composed a poem in their honor. The 
city hosted a grand civic ball for 10,000, and members of New York 
society vied to entertain the visiting Japanese diplomats. Mayor Wood 
and the Common Council of New York held a reception in honor of the 
Japanese ambassadors in the Governor's Room at City Hall.
  New Yorkers and the popular press were overcome with Japan mania, 
especially for the youngest member of the group, seventeen-year-old 
translator Tateishi Onojiro, also known as ``Tommy.'' With the 
appearance of the popular song, the ``Tommy Polka,'' the ``Tommy'' boom 
outlasted the departure of the delegation itself. For their part, the 
Japanese delegation studied American industry and technology, learned 
about its government and customs, and brought back ideas that would 
help fuel Japan's emergence on the world stage.
  Madam Speaker, although largely forgotten today, the Japanese 1860 
Samurai Mission was to ratify the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and 
Navigation, which had been signed several years earlier. The agreement 
opened the ports of Edo and four other Japanese cities to American 
trade, among other stipulations. In the years before the Civil War, the 
Japanese visitors captivated the American people and the press. This 
first face-to-face cultural exchange between, the Japanese and everyday 
Americans was one of the most elaborated spectacles of its time.
  As Dean of the New York Congressional Delegation and on behalf of my 
colleagues and all of the residents of my district, we are honored to 
join Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya, Consul General of Japan in New 
York, James G. Dinan and Susan Henshaw Jones in celebrating Samurai in 
New York--The First Japanese Delegation, 1860 at Harlem's beloved 
Museum of the City of New York.

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