![Image](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/9232147027_25289614dd.jpg)
On July 8, 1853, 160 years ago, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay with a fleet of gunships sent on behalf of the American government, and declared, "We're Yanks, we're here, get used to it," or words to that effect. That simple act began a process of "opening up" that forced Japan to end its 200+ years of self-imposed isolation. As a result, we got the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which Japan defeated China; the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, in which Japan defeated Russia; the Manchurian "Incident" of 1931 and the subsequent invasion and occupation of China; the Rape of Nanking; Pearl Harbor; and the Bataan Death March, among other examples of infamy during World War II.
But let's look on the bright side. We also got Godzilla movies, Akira Kurosawa, anime, Power Rangers, and J-pop. And those things all came AFTER the war, so there's hope for the old country yet.
I've often felt that those of us with the kind of intense relationship with Japanese popular culture, as demonstrated on this board, are part of the continual process of opening up Japan and getting them out of the house, so to speak, and joining the rest of the world, even if they don't want to join.
I write about this in the current entry on my blog. Please read it. It's part of a new stage of my own journey in relation to all of this.