AllMovie

The conclusion charts the 200 years of Japanese isolation, from the middle of the 17th century until 1853, when Commadore Matthew Perry's "black ships of evil appearance" sailed into Tokyo harbor. It was a time of peace, culture and refinement, and the prosperous Edo (Tokyo) grew into the largest city in the world. But peace made the samurai class aimless (and increasingly useless), and intellectuals were becoming increasingly interested in Western medicine and learning in general. When Perry arrived, the shogun had little choice but to let the Americans in, and modern Japan was born.