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*''Japanese'': 下田 ''(Shimoda)''
*''Japanese'': 下田 ''(Shimoda)''
Shimoda is a port city on the Izu peninsula in [[Shizuoka prefecture]]. It is known as one of the first [[treaty ports]] to be opened in Japan, along with [[Hakodate]], in [[1854]].
Shimoda is a port city on the Izu peninsula in [[Shizuoka prefecture]]. It is known as one of the first [[treaty ports]] to be opened in Japan, along with [[Hakodate]], in [[1854]]. Shimoda was closed to American activity in [[1857]], but was subsequently reopened along with the broader "opening" of the country following the [[Meiji Restoration]].<ref>Robert Hellyer, Defining Engagement, Harvard University Press (2009), 176.; Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 273-283.</ref>
Despite the prominence of its Bakumatsu history, however, Shimoda was already a prominent location since even prior to the [[Edo period]]. A [[siege of Shimoda]] took place in the 1590s.
Despite the prominence of its Bakumatsu history, however, Shimoda was already a prominent location since even prior to the [[Edo period]]. A [[siege of Shimoda]] took place in connection with the [[siege of Odawara]] in [[1590]], and as early as [[1616]], the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] assigned a separate official, the [[Shimoda bugyo|Shimoda bugyô]], to oversee the port.
The privileges granted to the Americans and British in these 1854 agreements were extended to the Russians in the [[Treaty of Shimoda]], signed on 1854/12/21 (on the Japanese calendar) at [[Choraku-ji|Chôraku-ji]] in Shimoda and ratified nearly two years later in St. Petersburg. This treaty is also notable for being the first to officially set agreed-upon national borders between Japan and Russia in regards to the [[Kuril Islands]], and indeed the first to set modern national borders for Japan at all.<ref>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 247-250, 292. </ref>
As late as [[1852]], the shogunate was actively rejecting foreign landings or interactions at Shimoda. When the Russian ship ''[[Mentchikof]]'' came to Shimoda that year and attempted to repatriate Japanese castaways, they were told by [[Nirayama daikan]] [[Egawa Tarozaemon|Egawa Tarôzaemon]] (the official overseeing the entire [[Izu province|Izu]] region) to do so at [[Nagasaki]] instead; rather than do so, the ''Mentchikof'' simply left the castaways elsewhere in Izu and moved on. In stark contrast, when [[Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin]] arrived in Japan for his second or third time in late 1854, he was in fact directed to go to Shimoda.
Negotiations between the Tokugawa shogunate and [[Commodore Perry]] of the United States held in [[Yokohama]] in 1854 resulted in the [[Convention of Kanagawa]], signed that same year, which opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American ships. Further negotiations, held at the Buddhist temple [[Ryosen-ji|Ryôsen-ji]] in Shimoda, resulted in the designation of an area seven ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' square within which Americans could enjoy free movement, the establishment of checkpoints controlling movement out of the port city, and a number of other provisions.
The privileges granted to the Americans and British in these 1854 agreements were extended to the Russians in the [[Treaty of Shimoda]], signed on 1854/12/21 (on the Japanese calendar) at [[Choraku-ji|Chôraku-ji]] in Shimoda and ratified nearly two years later in St. Petersburg. This treaty is also notable for being the first to officially set agreed-upon national borders between Japan and Russia in regards to the [[Kuril Islands]], and indeed the first to set modern national borders for Japan at all.<ref>Mitani, 247-250, 292. </ref> These privileges were further extended to the Dutch in an [[1856]] [[Treaty of Peace and Amity (Dutch-Japan)|Dutch-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Amity]].<ref>Mitani, 260-262.</ref>
[[Townsend Harris]], the first American consul to be resident in Japan, took up that post at Shimoda in [[1856]], though Shimoda was closed to American activity and the [[American Legation]] moved to [[Edo]] the following year.<ref>Hesselink, Reinier. "The Assassination of Henry Heusken," ''[[Monumenta Nipponica]]'', vol. 49, no. 3. Autumn, 1994</ref>
==Notable Sites in Shimoda==
*[[Choraku-ji|Chôraku-ji]] - Buddhist temple where the Treaty of Shimoda (]]1855]]) with Russia was negotiated and signed.
*[[Gyokusen-ji]] - Buddhist temple where a number of members of Commodore Perry's crew, as well as other Bakumatsu era foreigners, are buried. One of two temples, along with Ryôsen-ji, officially designated following 1854 negotiations to be made available as "rest areas" for Americans.
*[[Hofuku-ji|Hôfuku-ji]] - Buddhist temple which served for a time as residence and administrative office for the Shimoda bugyô. Site of a notable meeting between [[Katsu Kaishu|Katsu Kaishû]] and [[Yamauchi Yodo|Yamauchi Yôdô]], and site of the grave of [[Okichi]].<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 600.; Plaques on-site at Hôfuku-ji.</ref>
*[[Ryosen-ji|Ryôsen-ji]] - Buddhist temple which served on several occasions as the site for negotiations between Commodore Perry and shogunate officials including [[Hayashi Fukusai]].
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==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
[[Category:Cities and Towns]]
