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The Portuguese first arrived in Japan. They introduced Christianity to the Japanese, which flourished for a brief period before being outlawed in 1939.
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The Portuguese introduced a weapon called the arquebus to the Japanese. Samurai first used the arquebus at the battle of Kanji.
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The missionaries converted many Japanese to Christianity. Some Christian converts fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu.
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The closed country policy remained in play until the American Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron arrived at Edo Bay.
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Three powerful Tozama daimyo from western Japan and some discontented court nobles in Edo demanded that the shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resign. Tokugawa Yoshinobu succumbed to this pressure. He renounced his position as shogun and refused to nominate a successor.
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The Tozama daimyo and their allies made the young Emperor Meiji, ruler of Japan abolished the Tokugawa bakufu.
