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Life in Japan. An 1856 Chromolithograph showing Crossing the Oho-E-Ga-Wa. (Province Suraga); 7.5 x 14.5 inch (19.05 x 36.83 cm). Nobles being carried over the water on litters, and in one case on a man's shoulders. Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858) led a US government expedition designed to open up trade with Japan, which had been in self-imposed isolation for almost 200 years. The United States wanted to increase their trade routes in the western Pacific. They also wanted a coaling station for the new steam-powered ships of the US Navy. From the "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, Performed in the Years 1852, 1853, and 1854, Under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy, by order of the Government of the United States, at his request, and under his supervision", by Francis L. Hawks, Library of Congress. PROVENANCE: Private collection, Montreal, QC