Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.

Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard and the Confederate States Navy, and also has been a rank in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps and its ancestor organizations. For over two centuries, the designation has been given varying levels of authority and formality.

Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry was a United States Navy officer whose nearly fifty-year career included service in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. Born in Rhode Island into a prominent naval family, he joined the Navy at age fifteen and rose through the ranks. Perry was a pioneering advocate for steam-powered warships, earning recognition as the “Father of the Steam Navy” for modernizing naval training and technology. His most notable achievement was leading the Perry Expedition (1853–1854), which compelled the Tokugawa shogunate to sign the Convention of Kanagawa, ending Japan’s 200-year isolation and opening ports to American trade. This mission marked a turning point in U.S - Japan relations and helped establish the United States as a global power in the Pacific.

The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity , was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March 31, 1854. Signed under threat of force, it effectively meant the end of Japan's 220-year-old policy of national seclusion by opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American vessels. It also ensured the safety of American castaways and established the position of an American consul in Japan. The treaty precipitated the signing of similar treaties establishing diplomatic relations with other Western powers.