Shimoda, Izu Penninsula, Japan

Shimoda is located at the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Tokyo. Shimoda’s location, with the Amagi Mountains to the north and the warm Kuroshio Current to the south, gives the city a humid, sub-tropical climate.

During the Bakumatsu period, the port of Shimoda was opened to American trade under the terms of the Convention of Kanagawa, negotiated by Commodore Matthew Perry and signed on March 31, 1854. Shimoda was also the site of Yoshida Shōin’s unsuccessful attempt to board Perry’s Black Ships in 1854.