Research of Japanese collections of the Smithsonian Institution collected in the 19th century

1992年9月，我们请到国立日本历史博物馆史密森学会的侯钦灿秀女士，对两国有关避碰的资料进行了研究、整理和讨论。与此同时，我们可以与她讨论展览的程序“江户时代后期的日本和美国之间的关系的历史”。12月，该项目的三名日本成员前往研究MSC收藏的武器和国立自然历史博物馆的图片（草图和照片），并列出了属于东海岸博物馆的佩里远征日本的资料。他们参观了佩里的坟墓和他出生在纽波特的房子。在此之后，他们得到了21份由佩里舰队的船员绘制的sdetches，以及告诉与佩里及其舰队访问日本有关的材料位于马里兰州安纳波利斯的海军学院博物馆和华盛顿，华盛顿特区的海军历史中心的列表。另外两名成员则参观了位于加州洛杉矶的美国日本国立博物馆，该博物馆于1992年开放，并有机会研究其所拥有的资料。他们可以在犹他州、加州大学洛杉矶分校的亚裔美国人研究中心和位于犹他州湖城的犹他州日宝公司对为美国日本人出版的《犹他州日宝》进行多年的研究。这些历时三年的研究，使我们获得了有关19世纪后期日美关系史的大量专业知识和信息。

We got Ms. Chan-su Houchins who belonged to Smithsonian Institution on National Museum of Japanese History in September 1992, and had a chance to research, sort out, and discuss the materials being related to parry in both country. At the same time we could talk with her about the program of the exhibition "The history of relation between Japan and America in the late of Edo period". In December, three Japanese members of this project went to research the MSC's collection of arms and the pictures (sketches and photographs) of National Museum of Natural History, and made a list of the materials of the Perry's expedition to Japan, which belonged to the museums located in the east side coast. And they visited the Perry's tomb and the house where he was born in Newport. RI, and researched the materials being related to him, After that they got 21 sdetches drawn by crews of Perry's fleet and the lists which told where the materials being related to perry and his fleet visiting Japan were located, in Naval academy Museum in Annapolis, MD and in the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. In addition to that, other two members of this project visited American Japanese National Museum in Los Angeles, CA, which had opened in 1992, and had a chance of researching materials it owned. And they could research on Utah Nippo published for American Japanese in Utah State for many years, in the Asian American Research Center of UCLA and in Utah Nippo Company in Salt Lake City, UT. These studies spanning three years let us get a great deal of expertise and information about the history of the relation between Japan and America in the late of 19th century.