Japan has a unique history. From the early 17th century until the mid-19th century, the island-nation was isolated from the world by order of the ruling Shoguns, the military-leaders who ruled in the name of the emperor. Foreigners were only allowed on one small island near Nagasaki, and no Japanese at all were allowed to leave – ever. This all changed in 1853-54, when American naval officer Matthew C. Perry forcibly opened Japan to international trade. What the naval officers and Marines in Perry's fleet saw when they came ashore in Japan shocked them – Japan had been suspended in time since the early 1600s. Its buildings, clothing, and especially weapons, were 200 years behind America and the Western world.