In the early days of July 1853, the residents of Uraga on the outskirts of the feudal capital of Japan at Edo were privy to a rather unusual sight: Four hulking foreign warships had entered their harbor under the power of coal, and under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States. So began one of the pivotal cultural interactions between East and West. Commodore Perry came as an...

The Japan Society was founded in New York City in 1907 by a group of businesspeople who were intimately interested in promoting relations between the United States and Japan. While the Society experienced a downturn in activities during World War II, the postwar period saw the Society come under the direction of John D. Rockefeller III, who was able to vastly expand its programs. Currently, the...