Tinted lithograph print depicting a view of Shimoda (written on the print as Simoda). On the hill to the right there are several gravestones. To the left, a group of American sailors and Japanese people are gathered around a coffin. In the centre of the group, Commodore Matthew Perry is stood next to a Japanese official. Ships from Perry’s fleet can be seen at anchor in the distance, among them the ‘Mississippi’ and the ‘Powhatan’. Inscribed: ‘Simoda From the American Grave Yard / From nature by Heine / Lith. Of SARONY & Co New York’.

The print is based on a drawing by Peter Bernhard Wilhelm Heine, better known as William Heine (1827–1885). A German-American world traveller, writer and artist, Heine was the official artist on Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan in 1852. This print was published as an illustration in the official voyage publication, 'Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan' (Washington: Beverley Tucker, 1856), opposite page 425.

Perry’s expedition embarked for Japan in 1852 with the intention of securing a trade treaty through threats and displays of US naval power. Perry and the Japanese disagreed on the site for negotiations. Perry insisted on Edo (Tokyo), while the Japanese offered various other locations. They compromised on Yokohama, a port city in Tokyo Bay. Perry landed on 8 March 1854 to commence negotiations. On 31 March, the Convention of Kanagawa was signed under threat of force, with Japan reluctantly agreeing to protect stranded seamen and open two ports for refuelling of American ships. It was not a trade agreement but did contain a most-favoured-nation clause, which provided an opening for a future trade contract between Japan and the United States.

Perry sent one of his ships, the ‘Saratoga’, back to the US with the treaty, while the rest of the fleet surveyed the two ports that would be opened to Americans, Hakodate and Shimoda.

While in Shimoda, G.W. Parish, an American sailor, died in an accident aboard the ‘Powhatan’ on 5 May 1854. Japanese authorities granted the request for burial in the graveyard of Gyokusen-ji, a Buddhist temple overlooking Shimoda. This print depicts the burial. Four other American servicemen were subsequently interred in the same part of the graveyard.