Things I learned today: the flag displayed aboard the USS Missouri during the surrender of Japan on Sept 2, 1945, was the very same flown by Commodore Perry over his fleet of "black ships" that opened Japanese ports in 1854. You can see it framed in the glass case at back.

A shot of the Susquehanna, the first of Perry's ships to enter Edo Bay. To locals, the feeling of seeing these cutting-edge steam-powered warships off the coast of Edo must have been akin to a seeing UFO hovering over Washington DC.

Perry's ships were equipped with "Paixhans" shell guns, among the first cannon capable of firing explosive shells. Shortly after his arrival in Edo harbor, Perry fired a 73-gun salvo of blanks, which he claimed was in celebration of the American Independence Day. Righto.