You may be interested in past posts on this topic:

• 160 years ago if you asked someone in either the US government or military how it could be ethical to force Japan to open up to western trade when they'd made it clear they wanted to be left alone, what would they have most likely said?
  ^(09 Feb 2014 | 11 comments)
  ^(/u/diana_mn gives a detailed, well sourced answer on the topic.)

• Before Commodore Perry showed did many/any people in Japan know the United States existed?
  ^(11 Mar 2015 | 32 comments)
  ^(/u/The_Alaskan details relevant American-Japanese foreign policy and trade issues up through Commodore Perry's expedition.)

• Why did the United States want to open trade with Japan when they knew Japan didn't have many natural resources? (19th century).
  ^(02 Oct 2013 | 20 comments)
  ^(/u/Jasfss describes the economic and positional motivations for American intervention.)

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