Commodore Perry's Prophecy

If you have a chance to visit the Yokosuka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (YCCI), as soon as you enter, right there facing you in the lobby, is a display dedicated to Commodore Matthew C. Perry, who commanded the squadron (what we would nowadays call a Task Group) of U.S. Navy warships whose mission was to deliver to the Japanese Government, a formal request from the U.S. Government, to open-up diplomatic and trade relations.

Here is what the display looks like (the large rock is from the City of Newport, RI, Perry's birthplace):

The U.S. Navy ships were painted mainly black in those days, so when, in 1853, Perry's squadron suddenly appeared, close off the coast of Uraga Bay, in what is now southern Yokosuka City, the local Japanese (who were pretty spun-up) called them "KURO FUNE" 黒船, or "Black Ships"...

Yokosuka City has adopted the Black Ships' arrival as part of its history, and what makes it a special place --- i.e., "Yokosuka is where Japan was opened-up to the world, and modernization."

When Commodore Perry wrote his official expedition after-action report in 1856 (a copy of which is displayed at YCCI), he made a special "prophetic" comment about the Japanese, which is proudly displayed, in its entirety on a plaque in the YCCI lobby.  Here it is:

“In the practical and mechanical arts, the Japanese show great dexterity; and when the rudeness of their tools and their imperfect knowledge of machinery are considered, the perfection of their manual skill appears marvelous.  Their handicraftsmen are as expert as any in the world, and with a freer development of the inventive powers of the people, the Japanese would not remain long behind the most successful manufacturing nations.  Their curiosity to learn the results of the material progress of other people, and their readiness in adapting them to their own uses, would soon, under a less exclusive policy of government, which isolates them from national communion, raise them to a level with the most favored countries.  Once possessed of the acquisitions of the past and present of the civilized world, the Japanese would enter as powerful competitors in the race for mechanical success in the future.”