Henry A. Adams

Commander Henry A. Adams was a US naval officer who served as chief of staff for Commodore Matthew Perry during Perry's expeditions to Ryukyu and Japan in 1853-1854.

He took a prominent role in negotiating with both Ryukyu Kingdom and Tokugawa shogunate officials on behalf of the Perry embassy, meeting with officials on numerous occasions to negotiate when and where more formal treaty discussions would take place.

On 1854/3/7, four days after the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa, Adams departed Kanagawa aboard the USS Saratoga to convey the signed treaty to the United States, while Perry and the remainder of the fleet remained in Japan.

After Perry's own return to the US at the end of that year (Jan 1855 on the Western calendar), Perry and Adams both traveled to Japan yet again, arriving at Shimoda on Ansei 1/12/9 (Jan 26, 1855), and bringing with them the formal ratification instruments and ratified copies of the Convention.

References

• Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 570.