Kojima, Matajiro (journal writer)
Cheney, Alice (forward)
Saito, Yoichiro (forward)
Wagner, Dora A. (forward/translator)
Obata, Nobuyoshi (translator):
Commodore Perry's Expedition to Hakodate, May 1854, A Private Account with Illustrations, Hakodate, Japan, Hakodate Kyodo Bunkakai (Hakodate Cultural Association), 1953, 2 volumes, large 12mo (5 7/8 x 8 1/4 in - 15 x 21  cm), purple stiff paper wraps, bound Japanese style with string ties, double fold pages printed on both sides, paste on titles in English and Japanese, accompanying string tie folding case. The volumes are not numbered. Together they contain 276 pages on 138 double folded pages.

Volume 1 - 102 pages. This volume, which I call volume 1, is the English and Japanese versions of the facsimile manuscript in volume 2. Volume 1 contains the following English sections: title page, copyright notice, forwards, preface (6 unnumbered pages), 30 numbered pages of English translation of the Kojima journal plus a listing of pictures and chart on 3 unnumbered pages. Then from back to front is the Japanese typeset version of the Kojima journal. It consists of 4 unnumbered pages followed by pages 1-59 for a total of 63 pages. Volume 1 has 102 pages on 51 double fold pages.

Volume 2 - 174 pages. This volume, which I call volume 2, consists of a 174 page facsimile manuscript of Kojima's original journal/record of the Perry call at Hakodate in March of 1854. Illustrations (50) are incorporated into the manuscript. Many are in color. There is also a map which spans two pages and folds out an additional page. The pages are not numbered but the volume consists of 174 pages on 87 double folded pages. Volume 2 reads Japanese style, from back to front.

Both volumes have numbers inscribed in the colophon. The number of sets actually issued is not specified however. I have reviewed a copy bearing number 557.

The author of this account, Matajiro Kojima, was a lower level Government official present during the visit of Commodore Perry's ships to Hakodate which was designated as one of the ports open to American ships in the treaty just completed. The account gives the Japanese reactions to Perry's visit as well as a description of the behavior of the Americans. While Kojima's reaction to the American visitors was not totally negative, he did report some unpleasant aspects. For example Kojima records:

All the Americans had poor table manners, unpleasant to see. The rest of their manners were similar. (Volume 1, page 25, English Translation)

Title Page, Volume 1

Colophon at End of Japanese Language Section, Volume 1
and at the end of Volume 2.

Showa 28 (1953).9.20 - Printed
Showa 28 (1953).9.25 - Published
Stated First Edition

Wrap Around Case