Commodore Matthew Perry landed here 171 years ago. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) Navy JROTC members parade through Shimoda, Japan, during the 85th annual Black Ship Festival, May 18, 2024.

Mayor Shoichiro Matsuki speaks at a monument honoring Commodore Matthew C. Perry in Shimoda, Japan, May 19, 2023. The ceremony was part of the city's 84th annual Black Ship festival.

Year Date Movements of Commodore Perry and US Ships; 1852: March 24: Perry appointed commander of East India Squadron. 1853: July 8: Perry’s fleet arrives in Uraga, by Tokyo Bay.

The pot is being exhibited at the municipal-run Meguru Project 2023, held at Uraga Port, the site of the country's emergence from isolationism thanks to Commodore Perry's fleet of black ships and ...

In August 1945, John K. Bremyer undertook a 124-hour, 9,000-mile journey to Tokyo Bay, where he delivered the flag flown by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 to Admiral William Halsey's USS "Missouri" ...