Japan began the nineteenth century the same way it had begun and ended the two previous centuries, largely isolated from the outside world. In 1853, the United States (a Pacific country looking for new markets) led the charge to open Japan to trade with the outside world. When American warships showed up uninvited to demand access to Japanese marke

cultural products and social values: it was a difficult relationship to manage successfully. Once Japan began to run short of silver and the domestication