Diplomats and Poets: "Power and Perceptions" in American Encounters with Japan, 1860

America's encounter with Japan took place not only in Japan from 1854 onward but also in the United States itself, as signaled by the visit of a Japanese embassy to the American east and west coasts during the summer of 1860Ña trip that Walt Whitman famously profiled in his poem "A Broadway Pageant." This article discusses the contexts for this encounter of civilizations on American soil by examining the events of the visit itself and Whitman's responses to it. In doing so, the article comments on American perceptions of Japan and also analyzes the power relationships at work in the encounter.