Abe Masahiro

Abe Masahiro (born Dec. 3, 1819, Edo [now Tokyo], Japan—died Aug. 6, 1857, Edo) was a statesman who negotiated the opening of Japan to trade and communication with Western nations after the arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry and his U.S. Navy fleet.

Born into an influential noble family, Abe was only 25 years old when he was appointed head of the rōjū (senior councillors), the highest administrative office under the shogun, or hereditary military dictator of Japan. The government had previously been in the hands of a group of conservative reformers whose attempts to restore the past virtues of the Japanese state had created considerable unrest among the population; Abe’s first years in power were marked by his successful attempt to alleviate the discontent caused by these changes. Western ships had begun to appear off the Japanese coast in the early 19th century, however, and Abe, determined to preserve Japan’s traditional isolationism, worked to strengthen coastal defenses. He welcomed Western learning only as a means of increasing Japan’s military and economic potential.

When Perry’s fleet arrived in 1853, it was readily apparent that Japanese armaments were no match for the U.S. warships. After Perry returned the following February, Abe signed the Treaty of Kanagawa (March 31, 1854), opening Japan to limited communication with the United States. Similar treaties were concluded with Great Britain, Russia, and the Netherlands in the following months. Meanwhile, fueled by the seeming weakness of the shogunate, the movement for the restoration of power to the old imperial family began to grow, and Abe, overwhelmed by criticism that he had betrayed his country, was forced to relinquish a great deal of his power; thereafter he devoted himself exclusively to internal affairs.