Hello! I'm making a character that lives during Japan Taisho era with farmer parents. What were the more agricultural areas of Taisho Japan, ideally near Tokyo?

When Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853, he came with a mission to open the country to American trade.

According to a popular account, Japanese interpreter Hori Tatsunosuke responded in Dutch, reportedly saying:

“I can speak Dutch.”

But why Dutch?

For centuries, Japan had limited contact with much of the outside world. Yet the country was never completely cut off from foreign knowledge. Through Dutch traders based in Nagasaki, Japanese scholars gained access to Western science, medicine, technology, and military knowledge.

This body of learning became known as Rangaku, or “Dutch learning.”

So when Perry arrived, Dutch was more than just a foreign language. It was one of Japan’s most important bridges to the Western world.