The strange and amusing story of the first successful attempt by the United States to establish diplomatic ties with the mysterious, inviolate and feudal Imperial Japan in 1853.
Written and presented by Bernard Keeffe with Alan Tilvern as Commodore Matthew T. Perry and David Healey as Townsend Harris, first American Consul in Japan
'The Japanese couldn't see enough of us and our ways. They peered into every nook and cranny, into the muzzles of guns, hauling the ropes, measuring the boats, looking eagerly into the engine room. and constantly making notes and sketches. The Japanese are undoubtedly an intelligent people, and may be made something of in time, but they are just three centuries behind the age in everything.'

(Repeated: Fri 11.5 am)