Convention of Kanagawa
| Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity | |
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Japanese copy of the Convention of Kanagawa, ratified 21 February 1855
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| Signed | 31 March 1854 |
| Location | Kanagawa, Japan |
| Sealed | 31 March 1854 |
| Effective | 30 September 1855 |
| Condition | Ratification by US Congress and signing by Emperor Kōmei of Japan |
| Signatories | |
| Depositary | Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) |
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On March 31, 1854, the Convention of Kanagawa (Japanese: 日米和親条約 Hepburn: Nichibei Washin Jōyaku?, "Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity") or Kanagawa Treaty (神奈川条約 Kanagawa Jōyaku?) was the first treaty between the United States of America and the Tokugawa Shogunate. Signed under threat of force, it effectively meant the end of Japan’s 220-year-old policy of national seclusion (sakoku), by opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American vessels. It also ensured the safety of American castaways and established the position of an American consul in Japan. The treaty also precipitated the signing of similar treaties establishing diplomatic relations with other western powers.
Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa shogunate pursued a policy of isolating the country from outside influences. Foreign trade was maintained only with the Dutch and the Chinese and was conducted exclusively at Nagasaki under a strict government monopoly. This policy had two main objectives. One was the fear that trade with western powers and the spread of Christianity would serve as a pretext for the invasion of Japan by imperialist forces, as had been the case with most of the nations of Asia. The second objective was fear that foreign trade and the wealth developed would lead to the rise of a daimyō powerful enough to overthrow the ruling Tokugawa clan. Japanese leadership at the time were also watching the events take place in China with regards to the Opium Wars being inflicted on them.
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