2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Kanrin Maru to San Francisco, the first official Japanese ship to land on American soil. The Kanrin Maru’s arrival also signals an important chapter in the beginning of official relations between the United States and Japan, seven years after Commodore Matthew Perry sailed to Japan to end two centuries of Japan’s self-imposed isolation.
As a result of Perry’s trip, in 1860 Japan agreed to send its first delegation to the United States. Two official ships sailed to the United States from Japan: the USS Powhatan from America and the Kanrin Maru from Japan. The Kanrin Maru, with 96 Japanese sailors, arrived in San Francisco on March 17, 1860, followed by the USS Powhatan nearly two weeks later. Both ships had weathered heavy storms across the Pacific and the Powhatan was forced to stop for repairs in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) delaying its arrival to March 29, 1860.
The commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Kanrin Maru celebrates not only the event itself, but the 150 years of history between the United States and Japan and the roots of the Japanese American community.
