San Francisco The
Kanrin Maru reached
San Francisco directly, but the
Powhatan (and the embassy) made a stopover in the
Kingdom of Hawaii first, where they were greeted by King
Kamehameha IV and
Queen Emma. When it arrived in San Francisco on March 29th, the delegation stayed for a month, touring the city's notable locations and being received by the mayor, and Fukuzawa had himself photographed with an American girl, a photo that has since become one of the most famous in Japanese history. Fukuzawa also acquired an English–Chinese
Webster's Dictionary, from which he began to study English seriously and prepare his own English–Japanese dictionary.
Washington, D.C., New York, and the return receiving the Embassy. The
Kanrin Maru was originally intended to accompany the Japanese embassy to Washington, but due to the severe damage she sustained in her journey over the Pacific, she was drydocked and was due to return to Japan after being repaired, the
Powhatan continued with the Embassy to
Panama, where its members crossed the isthmus to the Atlantic via the recently opened
Panama Railway. Changing ships for the
USS Roanoke, the 72-man diplomatic mission then proceeded to
Washington, D.C. The
Roanoke had been situated in Panama for nearly a year for this purpose. After being received with customary gun salutes, the
Roanoke was underway by April 26th for
New York. The
Roanoke arrived at
New York bay after two weeks, but was instructed to proceed to
Hampton Roads to convey the embassy to the
president, who had moved to
Washington at the time. The Roanoke arrived at Hampton Roads on May 12th, which was extremely crowded with onlookers who flocked to see the Japanese. The embassy debarked and was cordially received, they boarded a steamer and continued by river to Washington and debarked at the Navy Yard on May 14th. The embassy turned down a lot of invitations and banquets on the way, desiring to meet with the president as fast as possible. Washington was filled with thousands of onlookers who wished to see the Embassy. Numerous receptions were held in its honor, including the grandest one at the
White House, where the ambassadors met President
James Buchanan and presented to him the Harris Treaty. The White House had been obscenely crowded by curious onlookers, significantly ladies, during this occasion. Buchanan presented them with a gold watch engraved with his likeness as a gift to the
shogun. Buchanan and many others desired that the ambassadors tour the United States, but the ambassadors unwaveringly refused all of these offers, desiring to convey the results of their diplomatic mission as fast as possible to the
Shogunate. The Japanese delegation traveled north to Philadelphia. Their attention to activities planned by local officials was distracted by the news of what became known as the "
Sakuradamon Incident" in Tokyo. The
Tairō Ii Naosuke had been assassinated on March 24; and accounts of the event were sped by the
Pony Express across the American continent. This murdered official had been the highest ranking signer of the Japanese-American
1858 "Harris Treaty", which was a follow-up to the 1854
Treaty of Kanagawa. The delegation continued on to
New York City, where their procession up Broadway from the Battery was a grand parade. From New York, they crossed the
Atlantic and
Indian Oceans, all on board the
USS Niagara, thus completing a circumnavigation. After leaving New York on June 30, the
Niagara reached the harbor at
Porto Grande,
Cape Verde Islands, on July 16. Other ports on the voyage back to Japan included São Paulo-de-Loande (now
Luanda),
Angola; Batavia (now
Jakarta),
Java; and
Hong Kong. The frigate finally sailed into
Tokyo Bay on November 8 to disembark her passengers. ==Significance==