The commander of Naval Forces Japan, Rear Adm. Carl Lahti, lays a wreath during a memorial service at Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda, Japan, May 19, 2023. The service was part of the city's 84th annual Black Ship Festival. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
SHIMODA, Japan — This normally quiet town briefly welcomed hundreds of Japanese locals and sailors from the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force recently to commemorate the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan nearly two centuries ago.
The 84th annual Black Ship Festival, May 19-21, drew appearances by Rear Adm. Carl Lahti, commander of Naval Forces Japan; Capt. Walter Mainor, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15; Shoichiro Matsuki, mayor of Shimoda; and the crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius.
“Today’s important because it helps cement the connection between Japan and the United States, really when it first started back in the days of Commodore Perry,” Lahti told Stars and Stripes on May 19, the first day of the festival. “We’re very proud that the relationship has bloomed into such a close alliance, where we cooperate very closely every single day.”
Mayor Shoichiro Matsuki speaks at a monument honoring Commodore Matthew C. Perry in Shimoda, Japan, May 19, 2023. The ceremony was part of the city's 84th annual Black Ship festival. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the U.S. 7th Fleet Band perform at Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda, Japan, May 19, 2023. The event was part of the city's 84th annual Black Ship Festival. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Strip)
Members of the U.S. 7th Fleet Band perform at Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda, Japan, May 19, 2023. The event was part of the city's 84th annual Black Ship Festival. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
The commander of Naval Forces Japan, Rear Adm. Carl Lahti, speaks with a monk from Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda, Japan, May 19, 2023. His visit was part of the city's 84th annual Black Ship Festival. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Festival events included flight demonstrations from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, a memorial service for Americans buried at Gyokusenji Temple — site of the first American consulate in Japan — along with concerts by the U.S. 7th Fleet band, parades and fireworks.
The festival was also much livelier than past years, in part because COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted.
“Everyone doesn’t have to wear a mask, so they can interact with each other, talk to each other and smile face to face,” Matsuki told Stars and Stripes on May 19. “The purpose of holding this festival is to pay respect to those people who contributed to opening Japan’s port at the time.”
Perry’s arrival and negotiations with Japan, which birthed the term “gunboat diplomacy,” laid the groundwork for a trade agreement between the two countries and ultimately helped end more than 200 years of Japanese isolation from the world at large.
