Page 9 - Marutas of Unit 731

Chapter 1

US-Asia Relationship

U.S. inter vention in Japan began in 1851 when Matthew Per r y arrived in
Japanese waters with a squadron of Navy ships authorized by President

Millard Fillmore. Japan had been an isolated countr y and had captured

many U.S. sailors in its waters. Per r y’s mission was two-fold—to res cue the

sailors who were destined for imprisonment or death in Japan and to open

up Japan for trade.
Since Japan had been isolated for centuries, the West was far more

militarily advanced and in the area of weaponr y. With Matthew Per r y’s

gunboat diplomacy, a steamboat in Japanese waters bearing gis for the

emperor helped convince the Japanese of the West’s super iority. e

Japanese accepted an agreement to release the U.S. sailors as well as open a
[1]
port for refueling.
During that time period, many Amer icans believed in Manifest Destiny,

meaning that they were destined by God to rule the North Amer ican

continent as well as God’s wish to rule the world. While the Qing Dynasty of

China failed to catch up to the moder n world, missionaries were rushing to
Guangdong, China to fruitlessly conver t Chines e into Christians. Merchants

were also busily trading opium for Chines e tea and silk. By the mid-1800s,

China was car ved up like a melon by the militarily super ior Wester n Powers.
[2]
Japan saw what had happened to China as a result of its inability to

advance in technolog y, combined with Matthew Perr y’s demand for the