No, but they were coerced into opening up trade with the US by Commodore Matthew Perry. In 1853, Perry anchored off of the capital city of Edo (now Tokyo) with 2 steam frigates and 2 sloops and proceeded to shell some of the buildings in the harbor. After delivering a letter from Pres. Fillmore demanding open trade, Perry told the Japanese he would return for a response. He came back the next year with twice as many ships but force was unnecessary as the Japanese shoguns had effectively agreed to all the US terms and opened up trade in the following years.

The Japanese had secluded themselves from foreign trade and most foreign contact since the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese in the 1600s. Initially open to contact with Europeans, Japanese leaders were threatened by the spread of Catholicism and reacted by expelling missionaries and killing or persecuting their converts. There was limited trade with the Dutch in the port of Nagasaki but foreign merchants werent allowed to leave and profits and knowledge gained from trade were controlled by the shoguns. It took the shock of having their capital city surrounded and shelled by US warships to make the shoguns realize that they couldnt stick their heads in the sand forever and had to modernize to avoid the same fate as China. The previous foreign policy of sakoku (locked country) was gradually replaced by the pervasive attitude of bunmei kaika (civilization and enlightenment), which focused on emulating the West to create a strong, industrial country that could fend off US or European imperialism.