In August 1856, Townsend Harris, the first American Consul General, established Japan's first American consulate at Gyokusenji in Shimoda. Harris stayed at this temple for about a year and a half, conducting persistent negotiations with the Japanese side. Despite suffering from illness in an isolated environment, he successfully concluded the Harris Treaty (Treaty of Amity and Commerce) in 1858, opening the path to Japan's full opening and modern diplomacy.