U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (Japanese depiction pictured) and the Tokugawa shogunate signed the Convention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.

The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, one undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of 18 July 2023. The U.S. Navy is one of six armed forces of the United States and one of eight uniformed services of the United States.

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 Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the Edo shogunate, was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.

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.