‘Aliens Invade!’ The Barbarians and the Shogun with Lesley Downer

In 1853 Commodore Perry’s gunboat diplomacy forced an end to 200 years of Japanese isolationist policy. In this talk author Lesley Downer will unpick the many compelling narratives set in motion by the arrival of Commodore Perry and his Black Ships, telling the stories from both American and Japanese viewpoints.

 

Perry’s mission to Japan was underpinned not only by American trade ambition, but also by a desire to bring Western culture to ‘backward’ Asian nations. What then was the Japanese reaction to the minstrel show offered up by blacked-up USN sailors while negotiations took place in Kanagawa? And what was the role of daimyo Shimazu Nariakira, whose well-concealed factory complex, fledgling fleet of steam ships and daguerreotype camera marked him out as the most far-sighted of the shogun’s advisors? Additionally, what were the circumstances behind the sudden deaths of not one but two shoguns following the respective visits of Perry and the first American consul, Townsend Harris?

 

The talk will be illustrated with contemporary documents and pictures, including woodblock prints of Perry and Harris as seen through Japanese eyes, and American drawings of the Japanese.

 

Lesley Downer first went to Japan more than thirty years ago and her life has revolved around Japan ever since. She is the author of many books on Japan, including Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World, Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha who Seduced the West and the first three in a quartet of novels: The Last Concubine, The Courtesan and the Samurai and The Samurai’s Daughter. Her new novel, The Shogun’s Queen, is a prequel, chronologically the first in the quartet, and begins at the moment when the Black Ships are sighted. Published 3 November 2016.

 

 

To reserve your place, please call the Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk or submit the online booking form.