The painting commemorates the opening day of negotiations that ultimately led to the signing of the Kanagawa treaty effectively opening Japan to American ships. Prior to Commodore Matthew Perry’s visit to Japan, the country had isolated itself from interacting with foreigners. Growing trade with China, however, motivated the Americans. The geographic location of Japan offered much needed ports for acquiring wood, water, and coal for merchant steamships. The treaty was eventually signed on March 31, 1854.

At 11:30 A.M. the escort embarked in twenty-seven boats and pulled up in
two lines parallel to the beach. When the boats were in position, the
Commodore climbed into his barge under a 17-gun salute from the
Macedonian. As Perry went ashore, the bands struck up “The Star-
Spangled Banner,” and Perry, followed by his officers and six black
stewards at the rear marched toward the reception hall, the boat which
had pulled back from the beach, fired a 21-gun salute in honor of Hayashi
while a flag with the Tokugawa crest was run up the masthead of the
Powhatan .

From the time this painting was accessioned in The Mariners' Museum’s collection it was always considered to be a view of Commodore Perry’s fleet during a stopover at the island of Naha, equidistant between Yokohama and Canton, China. And, although the Commodore ordered that all journals were to be turned in at the end of the expedition, one belonging to Henry Wilson Rowlandson (1833 – 1886) in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum shows the exact scene depicted in this painting.