03/29/1860
The first diplomatic mission to the United States left Japan on February 22, 1860 with a seventy-four person staff aboard the USS Powhatan. They arrived in Hawaii on March 5, 1860 for a two week visit and then sailed for California. The Powhatan, under Commodore Josiah Tatnall, arrived with the group at the Mare Island Naval Base north of San Francisco a little over a week later. The embassy then traveled to Washington, D.C. via the Panama route and concluded its visit in late June 1860. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation:
Chitoshi Yanaga, "The First Japanese Embassy to the United States," in Ellis S. Krauss and Benjamin Nyblade (eds.), Japan and North America: First Contacts to the Pacific War (New York: Routledge, 2004), 42.