Let's look into the foreign affairs of Japan in 1853, the policies and events that shaped it to be so as well as the arrival of Commodore Perry and the opening of Japan.

Link to President Fillmore's letter and correspondence: https://archive.org/stream/FillmoreLetterToJapanEmperor/Letter_to_Japan_Emperor_nw.txt

The following is a list of some of the Japanese names and terms that are used in this episode: Rangaku, Uraga, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Shimoda, Hakodate, Tokugawa Iesada, Abe Masahiro

Sources:

The Meiji Restoration by W.G. Beasley, The Making of Modern Japan by Marius B. Jansen, A Modern History of Japan by Andrew Gordon.