It’s an interesting commentary on human nature to see the mix of affection and wariness in the attitude of Japan to Commodore Matthew Perry who sailed with four ships into Tokyo Bay on March 31st 1854 to the astonishment of the locals who had never seen steamships before.
If you walk along the leafy sidewalk beside Hibiya-dori, the road running along the East side of Shiba Park, you find bronze bust of Perry on a marble pedestal.
Two and a half hours on the train from Tokyo station brings you to the port of Shimoda, one of the two ports which, after negotiations with Perry, the Japanese agreed to open up to US ships.
Every year the citizens of Shimoda hold a ‘Black Ships Festival’ after the name the locals gave to Perry’s ships.
Nearly 25 years ago, Perry’s birthplace, the US yachting Mecca of Newport, Rhode Island, started its own ‘Black Ships Festival’ which has been an annual event since.
In 1854 Perry’s mission was to open a trading relationship between the USA and Japan.
Clearly, the mission succeeded for the countries which are now the world’s two largest economies. But there have always been spats.
At the moment US financiers are causing a right old ruckus by looking for M&A deals in Japan's high technology sector.
One US private equity fund has been pressuring NEC to reduce its shareholding and boardroom representation in its semiconductor arm, NEC Electronics, and allow it to buy a substantial share stake.
Is it a coincidence that this US private equity fund is called Perry Capital?
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