In May, a handful of students from IUC got the chance to participate in the Black Ship Festival in Shimoda, commemorating Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his black ships of the East India Squadron arriving in Japan, 1850's. There was a "historical recreation" play recreating the scene of signing the Shimoda Treaty, and then we marched in a parade.
First off the history side of Black Ship Festivals (there's a similar one I did in Hakodate, one of the other port towns opened up early) is a little bit... off. They all promote Perry as a hero. He's a household name in Japan in a way that he's most certainly not in the US. But the plays and the festival goodies always promote Perry as a great friend of Japan, opening up a treaty for mutual growth and friendship. But the historical reality is that the treaty was very one-sided, pushed onto Japan with the threat of the US navy sitting on their shores, and the unfair nature of the treaties was a point of national resentment for the next 50 years or so.
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| This
photo is actually a pretty good summary of how simplified and
white-washed the history of the Black Ships tends to be in popular
consciousness. There were some samurai, and there was the US. They
met, and then they were friends, and then Japan was modern! Yay! |
Usually they ask for IUC students to fill in the navy roles in the play, although this year they were one short on the samurai side so I got to be a samurai. I had professional costume make-up artists doing my wig. I even had a line in the play, reading off part of the Shimoda treaty. It was in a kind of semi-classical legalese, which everyone assured me that regardless of whether I said it right or not, most people wouldn't really understand.
Shimoda is in Shizuoka prefecture on the Ito peninsula, southwest of Tokyo. And it passes for tropical. Most tourist promotion photos for Okinawa, the semi-tropical island range way to the south of Japan, are actually taken in Shimoda.
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| The first night had a big fancy reception, with diplomats and navy representatives from both sides. We asked in advance about dress code, and we were told no dress code, so we came just in what we were wearing at school. We were the only people not in suits. Oops. We were a little embarrassed but enjoyed the diplomat-level cuisine, including fish cheeks and fois gras pudding. |
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| The boys and Perry-chan. The bigger roles with lines are always performed by Japanese volunteers. This year, the volunteer for Perry happened to be the tiniest, most adorable size of Japanese lady. |
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| The girls in kimonos. There wasn't really a role for them in the play, but they got to strut around and be pretty with us in the parade. I also love the incongruity of the coke cans here. This should be a commercial. |
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| After the parade, we got to wander the streets to see the rest of the festival. We were stopped for hundreds if not thousands of photo requests, but this time we stopped someone else for photos. We don't know what the group was, but one of the other groups in the parade was beautiful women in bikinis. They were happy to take lots of photos with us. Please notice the random old dudes who jumped in on either side. |
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| Justin and me staying and our host family, the Matsuis. |
Justin and I were staying at the Ryosenji (了仙寺) Temple, where the treaty itself was signed. The priest Matsui-san (on the right) plays a big role in promoting Shimoda's history, as well as all sorts of community volunteering and is at some of the highest levels of the Buddhist organizations of Japan.
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| This is me, in terrifying closeup. This is from the second day, where they had to apply the eye makeup much more heavily to dampen the shocking effect of blue eyes with black hair. |
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| Wig removed! |
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| When people ask what its like to live in Japan, I really just want to show them this picture. |
