Editing Module:Tenpō (section)

===Morrison incident===
In 1837, upon rescuing several stranded Japanese sailors, an American merchant ship called the ''Morrison'' endeavoured to return them to their homeland, hoping this venture would earn them the right to trade with Japan. However, the merchant ship was fired upon as it entered Japanese seas due to the [[Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels]] passed by Japan in 1825. This was later referred to as the [[Morrison incident]].<ref>Shavit, David. (1990). [https://books.google.com/books?id=IWdZTaJdc6UC&q=The+United+States+in+Asia:+A+Historical+Dictionary The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary, p. 354]</ref>

However, there were some in Japan who criticized the government's actions, namely the ''Bangaku Shachu'' a band of ''[[rangaku]]'' scholars who advocated a more open approach to the outside, perhaps to the extent of ending Japan's long-standing ''[[sakoku]]'' policy. This stance against the shogunate riled the government into the ''[[Bansha no goku]]'', arresting twenty-six members of the Bangaku Shachu, and reinforcing the policies on foreign education by limiting the publication of books, in addition to making access to materials for [[Rangaku|Dutch Studies]] increasingly difficult.<ref name="McClain, James L 1999 p. 227-228"/>