The year 2010 is an auspicious one for New York and Japan. Fifty years ago, Gotham became Tokyo’s first sister city, and 150 years ago this month, a samurai envoy paraded down Broadway after clinching diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Nippon. To celebrate that distinguished day, tributary events here in New York have included the annual Japan Day @ Central Park on June 6 which recreated the original samurai procession, a special lighting of the Empire State Building on June 16 to commemorate the actual anniversary date, and now, the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibition Samurai in New York: The First Japanese Delegation, 1860, on view from June 25 through October 11, with a special gallery tour on Saturday, June 26 hosted by project director Kathleen Benson, Yuko Suzuki of the Consulate General of Japan and Eric Campbell of the consulate’s Japan Information Center.

For Japan, the 1860s marked the end of a 250-year-old national isolation policy, planting the seeds for an unprecedented era of change, upheaval, and the birth of a modern-day Asian superpower. These influences continue to strike a chord with Americans, from imported baseball players to trendy restaurants to entertainment and fashions that, to some, might not even be recognized as Japanese.

“In New York, the arrival of the mission’s seventy-six samurai diplomats was a huge spectacle; a welcome parade on Broadway reportedly drew a crowd of 500,000 New Yorkers, and the city became captivated by all things Japanese during the mission’s two-week stay,” explained the Japan Information Center in a press release. In fact, a vintage New York Times article from June 16, 1860 called it “One of the most novel and imposing spectacles ever witnessed in this City.”

On display at the museum are extremely rare 19th-century photographs, ephemera related to the historic visit, newspaper reports, and superb works of art and adornment of Japanese influence. The Consulate-General of Japan is collaborating with the museum for the exhibition, and accompanying Samurai in New York will be a series of lectures, discussions, performances, workshops, walking tours to contemporary Japanese sites in New York City and other programs for adult and family audiences, many featuring noted experts in Japanese and New York history and Japanese American relations to further illuminate this cross-cultural encounter of immense historical impact.

Commented Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya, who has provided assistance and guidance with every aspect of the exhibition: “Samurai in New York brings to life a remarkable chapter of our shared history and celebrates the roots of the strong friendship enjoyed by Japanese and New Yorkers today. It is an extraordinary tale of mutual cultural discovery told from the perspectives of both sides.”

Samurai in New York is on view at the Museum of the City of New York from June 25 through October 11. The museum is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, and is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.mcny.org/exhibitions/future/Samurai-in-New-York.html and www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/150JapanNY/en/index.html.

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