Opening of Japan and Treaty Ports

American naval pressure in 1853 and 1854 led the Tokugawa government to sign agreements ending Japan’s previous restrictions on foreign access. Later treaties opened ports to residence and commerce and granted foreign nationals extensive legal privileges.

Yokohama became the principal international settlement near Edo. Trade, currency disruption, cultural exchange and the presence of foreign troops and diplomats intensified domestic opposition to the shogunate.

Gai-Jin uses Yokohama’s merchant community as one of its main settings. The enclosed foreign settlement and the surrounding Japanese political crisis create the conditions for negotiation, suspicion and violence.