Red-haired Barbarians only interested in intrusion, subversion, and rampage. Giant ants drawn to rancid meat. Infectious, greedy, incompetent, and unnatural. Throughout the 19th century, many Japanese authors used these words and phrases to describe an impending menace: the West. Despite Japan’s decades of isolationist and exclusionary policies, the Western nations remained steadfast to trade freely in Japan – a land that could offer entry to the riches of Asia and limitless possibilities of the Pacific Ocean. Yet from the Japanese prospective, the West carried more baggage than the goods they wished to trade, as many Westerners attempted to bring Christianity into Japan as well. These attempts at conversion led the Tokugawa shogunate to…show more content… In 1862, Yokoi Shonan writes of the new possibilities that Japan could seize if it sought to learn from other countries rather than isolate itself. Yokoi criticizes the Japanese government for its “old ways of national seclusions.” He proposes that Japan seek to end violence, learn from the other countries of the world, and to “open Japan’s doors.” Despite certain negative consequences, Yokoi even praises Commodore Perry in Perry’s description of the lacking Japanese government. Yokoi shows a change in Japanese attitudes toward the West because he observes the positive changes that can occur domestically in Japan if they open their borders and begin to engage with the rest of the world. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, Yokoi’s philosophy of looking outward to improve Japan internally would begin to catch on. Japan’s attitudes toward the West concerning technology and reform changed over the course of the 19th century due to the abundant potential the West could offer in the growth of
