The Morrison incident: American ship fired on at Uraga

Background. Uraga, located at the entrance of Edo Bay, was a strategic point for coastal defense. Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the area developed rapidly due to its sheltered harbor. In 1720, the shogunate established the post of Uraga bugyō to police traffic and organize defenses, fortifying harbor entrances with cannon to prevent foreign incursions in violation of Japan's national isolation policy.

The Incident. The Morrison incident occurred when the American merchant ship Morrison, headed by Charles W. King, was driven away from isolationist Japan by cannon fire. This action was carried out in accordance with the Japanese Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels of 1825. Cannon were fired from the hilltops of the Miura Peninsula as soon as the ship approached Uraga, complying with the shogunal order that Western ships, apart from Dutch ones, should be fired upon.

Aftermath. King was outraged by the Japanese response to the repulsion of his ship. Upon his return to the United States in 1839, he wrote a book about his adventure, documenting the events of the Morrison incident and the enforcement of Japan's isolationist policies.