Japan’s Volcanic Hokkaido Island Reveals a Historic Tale Surrounding Matthew Perry’s Timepiece 

            The sashimi and Sapporo Classic on tap were a taste of heaven, grounding me in a sense ofcivility and welcome peace.  Quietly and respectfully in the mineral baths of mountain-fed Noboribetsu, the hot springs relaxed every bone in my body.   Sitting naked, alone, in the Founder’s Pool, I witnessed the wooden water wheel delivering pure liquid down wooden channels, enhancing a view of the hellish, volcanic hillside directly in front of me.  As if on cue, a deer bolted down the mountainside, following a serpentine path, one no doubt memorized, around the many steaming sulfur vents to drink from the cool waters of the stream nearest to me.  

              Further west from Noboribetsu, rests Lake Toya. Volcanically formed with the verdant summit perfectly centered in the crater lake, this resort town draws Japanese to the local spas.  The ring of the lake is a UNESCO Heritage Eco Park that studies active volcanic readings.  Not far away, the Usu Beach coastline is dotted with black pumice rock.  Driving further west, I observed rich soil of the valleys, growing melon and peaches, as well as providing excellent grazing for the cattle responsible for famous Wagyu beef.  

               As I entered the port city of Hakodate, on this northern-most Japanese island, my eye was drawn to two distinct physical landmarks rising high above the rooftops. The first is was the observatory on Mount Hakodate and the other, is the modern Goryōkaku Tower.  The tsunami sirens sit strategically around the city, encouraging me to check the weather app on my phone just to make sure.  There was that eruption of Mount Sakurajima on the southern-most Japanese island a few weeks back.  A brief check of Yahoo News immediately followed, just to make sure I was not part of a pending news story of natural disasters.  But it was only more updates on Trump-fueled Washington politics.  No reports of the United States attacking Greenland or Panama.  Then, there were the ketamine criminal trials taking place in Los Angeles.  Something about the Ketamine Queen…another tragic Hollywood story of a celebrity drug overdose, although this time it was not propofol and Michael Jackson.

                 Of the four days in Hakodate, two were dedicated to the local food markets along the pier.  Hakodate is Hakkaido’s distribution center with its massive container port distributing the island’s fish, seafood, produce and beef to the Japanese nation and the rest of the world.  These markets and related food production catapult the city to internationalstatus, boasting of freshness and quality.  It was mouthwatering.  Next, I squeezed in the heights.  The Mount Hakodate Ropeway to the observatory attracts Japanese vacationers and day trippers for sunset views and twilight seascapes.  While Goryokaku tower offers a slightly lower vantage point, it does present a fabulous cityscape, its focus a magnificent view of the fortress and its gardens directly below, lined with a world renowned 200-year-old grove of cherry blossom trees.  The 5 five-point moat creates a perfect pentagon shape. To my eye, European architecture had a little bit to do with the castle design for the moat style.  While the observatory is responsible for meteorological tracking of the northern Pacific Ocean between the Sea of Japan and the Bering Sea, the Goryokaku tower offers a wonderful chronological history of the fortress’s creation and subsequent expansion and development of Hakodate as one of Japan’s trade and market hubs. 

             I must admit, I was negligent in doing my homework prior to my arrival in Hakodate.  Usually, I watch enough YouTube videos to get an education to the point where I could be the lecturer.  But not so on this trip.  No closely read hotel brochures beforehand. So, I can only say, when I arrived at the Goryokaku tower grounds, I was startled by the

sounds murmured from some of the Japanese visitors’ lips.  It was quite distinct.  I thought I heard the name Matthew Perry softly spoken.  Even before entering the queue to purchase tickets, parents were whispering the words Matthew Perry in stereo.  Were they talking about the late actor Matthew Perry of the television sitcom Friends?  I found it odd that Japanese school age children would be introduced to a tv star who recently met his tragic end well after his height of popularity.   Was there such interest in the tragic Hollywood ketamine overdose story?  

               The light show projection that was part of the elevator ascent immediately pictured a bearish hunk wearing a smartly pressed United States Navy officer uniform, along with medals.   Oh, so, maybe the Japanese visitors were talking about this older Matthew Perry.  Hmmm, I wasn’t aware the actor’s distant relative was the famous American explorer of the Asian Pacific.  So this was the famous Admiral Matthew Perry, the renowned warrior of the waves from the 1800s!  Many thoughts raced through my head, possibly linking the star of Friends to this historic figure.

                  Stepping out onto the top floor with the breathtaking view, I was immersed in the history exhibit, moving from one display case to the next.  It was here I learned about the wide ranging scope of this pseudo-industrialist.   Admiral Matthew Perry had more to do with the development of the island of Hokkaido than the ruling Japanese Shogunate, Japan’s feudal military system of government in 1853.  I was proud of myself, remembering my eighth grade social studies education that left a lasting impression of America’s China trade of the late eighteenth century.   I remembered my junior high school discussions about Canton trade, the Boxer Rebellion and how it defined American imperialism in the Pacific in the 1800’s as the U.S. expanded its foreign markets and influence.  

                 In the 1830s, trading vessels, traveling from and protected by the US military base in Guangzhou, attempted entry into Japanese ports but were routinely refused. The exhibits on the top floor of the tower described the history of how Commodore Perry was determined to open up Japan as a necessary port stop for American interests. The northern island of Hokkaido was perfect for U.S. dominance.

                 Silently, I couldn’t help but think how today’s Project 2025 seemed to run parallel to America’s back room strategies in the creation of the mid nineteenth century, imperialist Manifest Destiny beliefs, spurred on by monopolistic interests of the time.  Steam power was the new driving industrial force for American expansion.   If Trump’s circle was able to mingle with the likes of Astor, Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan, who knows where the U.S. would be today as a nation.   Luckily for us, there was still a modicum of guardrails holding us on the straight and narrow in the 20th century.

                 It was Commodore Perry’s fame for his naval battles of the Mexican War that found his hat thrown into the ring to propel this new U.S. objective.  America’s President Millard Fillmore and his administration think-tank were desperately seeking safe harbors in the Pacific.  From Guangzhou, as Commander Perry’s base of operation, he overtook and claimed two islands near Japan as U.S. territory.  Around that time in 1849, California became a state. The famous Gold Rush was on, north of San Francisco.   It was no coincidence that laborers from the Asian Pacific countries found themselves working on the new steam–powered railroads of America’s western territories.  The fur trade from the Pacific Northwest and buffalo meat from the northern plains found their way to China.  American whaling ships in the Pacific North encountered Japanese waters with harsh consequences.  The American press painted a hostile picture of Japanese society with stories of imprisoned American sailors.  Only the Dutch and Chinese were allowed trade with Japan.  

Matthew Perry Parts Japan’s Forbidden Waters

             With no intimate knowledge of Japanese culture or authority, the Fillmore administration decided to deliver a letter addressed to the Emperor of Japan.  Of course, Japan’s real power rested with the Shogun, not the Emperor.  President Fillmore sent Commodore Perry to Tokyo Bay with four intimidating black sailing ships known as the Invincible Armada, bearing the peace treaty letter.  The Tokugawa Shogunate initially laughed at the attempt, but did accept the letter, along with the gifts that came with it: a working model steam engine, a telescope, a telegraph, and a case of Kentucky bourbon.  The senior Shogun, aware of the Opium Wars waged just across the Sea of Japan, did not want a repeat of Britain’s naval weaponry confronting his nation.  The warlike appearance of Perry’s Black Sail Fleet must have been a major deciding factor.  

               Perry’s audacity won the Shogun’s approval.  The next year — with Perry’s agreed-return to hear Japan’s official answer — resulted in the 1854 signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa.  With that, the U.S. now joined the European superpowers of Britain, Holland, and France for dominance in the Northern Pacific.  It was an international interpretation of manifest destiny.  Immediately, the situation changed on the island of Hokkaido.  American influence was like an invasive species.  The English language suddenly was written all over the island.  I personally discovered this presence with my subsequent stop in Otaru where its famous canal was created as part of the coaling station superstructure.  Evidence of  the budding new American dominance was found on many old buildings, antique merchandise, public works, and transportation signage.  Not surprising, the Hokkaido University in Sapporo was founded by a professor from Massachusetts, as a school initially dedicated to agricultural research the same year the Treaty of Kanagawa was signed.  Sapporo did not become designated as a city until much later in the century.   

               American industry was hard at work on the island.  This was Matthew Perry’s most brilliant prize as his service drew to a close.  And the Goryokaku Tower exhibit showed, for better or worse, the Shogun’s decision to allow U.S. entrée into Japan brought about internal fear of exposure to foreign elements in the northern port city of Hakodate.   The Shogunate saw the handwriting on the wall.  The workings of the outside world were enough to herald the new government’s collapse.  Within a decade, the Japanese erected a walled fortress that housed the ministries.  Internal conflict divided loyalties.  The fortress moats were breached.  Ironically, this regional war was engaged at the same time as America’s Civil War. 

              Wasn’t his name Oliver Hazard Perry? The one from the War of 1812? Commondore Perry of Lake Erie?  Apparently, there were two Perrys of 19th-century naval fame!  The history caption about these two could read, “Black Sails versus the Black Sheep of the Family”.   I didn’t know they were brothers!   I was fortunate to have the excellent opportunity to swim in Lake Erie this time last summer during a college reunion.  I was aware of the famous name Oliver Hazard Perry, as Oliver was best known in that region for his victories defending the Great Lakes shoreline during the War of 1812.  Oliver was the shining light of Erie, Pennsylvania.   But in comparison to his brother Matthew, Oliver was the black sheep of this American naval and political family dynasty.   Apparently, the Perry family tree had plenty of hazards growing from its trunk, going back generations.  Oliver Hazard Perry was hot tempered, frequently passed over for promotion, never commissioned higher than Commodore, faced a duel at the same spot where Hamilton was shot by Aaron Burr, and eventually court–martialed.  Connections, and probably with a little help from brother Matthew, Oliver found assignments fighting pirates off the Barbary Coast and at the age of 34, the Swashbuckler succumbed to yellow fever in the Caribbean.  

               Now you know the tale of the Perry nautical tree of the nineteenth century.  So, as the elevator descends to the ground floor, our story jumped from the late 1800s forward to the year 2023.  Sitting under a column of the cherry blossom trees, I revived my Perry exploration on the internet.  I found the previous Google search.  The title describes the return of a pocket watch belonging to the Admiral.  In the calm shade of the garden, I could play the video.  Damn!  How wrong could I be?  This wasn’t about the lateHollywood actor, 

                Matthew Langford Perry of the sitcom Friends, presenting the Commodore’s antique pocket watch to Japan 9 months before his death!  This was the fifth–generation Perry descendant, bearing the Admiral’s same name, Matthew Calbraith Perry, presenting the Perry family heirloom timepiece to the Japanese people in a civilized ceremony, on a perch overlooking the harbor.  It was a quasi-diplomatic mission, much like the one assigned to his distant, celebrated relative. Kudos to him! And, as it turns out, there’s no genealogical connection between the naval dynasty Perry family and the Hollywood Matthew Perry.