Guide to the Panorama of the Arrival of United States Navy Commodore James Biddle in Japan, as Copied from a Japanese Matsudaira Panorama, 1850-1861 SPEC.RARE.MMS.0378 Finding aid prepared by Audrey Wimbiscus Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections
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2025 July This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2025-07-11T13:27-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Panorama of the Arrival of United States Navy Commodore James Biddle in Japan, as Copied from a Japanese Matsudaira Panorama SPEC.RARE.MMS.0378 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 1 0.1 Cubic feet 1850-1861 Following the delivery of the signed Treaty of Wanghia to China in 1845, Commodore James Biddle (1783-1848) of the United States Navy sailed to Japan and unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a similar trade treaty with the Japanese in July 1846; at that time Japan operated under Sakoku foreign policy, which prohibited trade and relations with most other countries. The Panorama of the Arrival of United States Navy Commodore James Biddle in Japan, as Copied from a Japanese Matsudaira Panorama is an illustrated panorama by an unknown Japanese artist depicting Commodore James Biddle's anchoring of American ships in the Uraga Channel near Edo, Japan in July 1846. The panorama also contains details of the distances depicted in the drawing, the number of American cannons, and the note that this panorama is a copy of an original government document belonging to Matsudaira Yamato no kami or a member of his inner circle. The panorama dates between 1850 and 1861. (1) oversize folder Japanese Acquisitions Information

Accession No. RARE.2023.0079: Purchased, 2023 October

 Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Panorama of the Arrival of United States Navy Commodore James Biddle in Japan, as Copied from a Japanese Matsudaira Panorama, SPEC.RARE.MMS.0378, Rare Books & Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

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 Processing Information

Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2025 July; Finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2025 July

 Historical Note

Commodore James Biddle (1783-1848) joined the United States Navy in 1800 as a midshipman; he served during the War of 1812, and was promoted to commodore sometime between 1814 and 1822. In 1845, Biddle commanded the United States Ships (USS) Columbus and Vincennes as they sailed to China to deliver the signed Treaty of Wanghia to the Chinese government; on the same trip, he was to deliver a message to Caleb Cushing, the American commissioner in China, authorizing him to make official contact with the Japanese government. By the time the ships arrived in December 1845, Cushing had already left for America, so Biddle decided to continue on to Japan and conduct negotiations himself. On July 20, 1846, Biddle’s ships anchored in the Uraga Channel, close to the Japanese capital of Edo, and he requested that Japan agree to a treaty similar to the one signed by the Chinese. The Japanese surrounded the two ships, and refused to let anyone land. Ultimately, the Japanese government refused the request, and told Biddle that Japan did not trade or communicate with any foreign nation besides the Dutch; the ships left Japan on July 29, 1846.

At this time, Japan operated under what was known as Sakoku, a strict isolationist Edo period (1603-1868) foreign policy where trade and relations with most other countries was prohibited, most foreigners could not enter Japan, and most Japanese people were prohibited from leaving the country. During this time, there was limited trade through the Japanese port of Nagasaki with the Chinese and the Dutch. Sakoku was primarily an attempt to discourage Christianity from entering Japan, as well as a way to keep power in the hands of Tokugawa shogunate. The shogunate ruled Japan in a feudal system, with different daimyō, or regional feudal lords, ruling portions of the country.

 Scope and Contents

The Panorama of the Arrival of United States Navy Commodore James Biddle in Japan, as Copied from a Japanese Matsudaira Panorama is an illustrated panorama by an unknown Japanese artist depicting Commodore James Biddle's anchoring of American ships in the Uraga Channel in Japan in an unsuccessful attempt to start treaty negotiations with the Japanese in July 1846. The panorama is drawn in both color and black inks, and shows Biddle's ships, the coastline and terrain near where the ships anchored, as well as Japanese defensive structures on land. Japanese text in red and black inks record distances between different points of the drawing and the number of cannons spotted on the American ships.

The panorama is also inscribed with the date May 5, 1846, and information stating this is a copy of an original top secret government document belonging to Matsudaira Yamato no kami or a member of his inner circle. Yamato no kami was the courtesy title of either daimyō Matsudaira Tsunenori or his successor, Matsudaira Naoyoshi; they ruled the Kawagoe domain of Japan between 1850-1854 and 1855-1861, respectively. Because of this, the panorama dates to 1850-1861.

 Biddle, James, 1783-1848 Matsudaira (Family) United States. Navy--Officers Art, Japanese--Japan--19th century Daimyo--Japan--Kawagoe-han Japan--Foreign relations--United States--19th century Panoramas (visual works) Warships--Visits to foreign ports--Japan