The book examines how the United States and Japan, despite their sharp differences in cultural, and historical, and geographical backgrounds, established a bilateral and clear linkage with each other by exploring their encounters with one another over more than one and a half centuries with close focus on culture and diplomacy. The author desires that this examination contributes to an establishment of a better understanding of the relationship between the two nations and aims to clarify stereotyped ideas and misunderstandings that from time to time can lead two nations to a confrontation against each other. Moreover, this study is designed to shed new light on determining twenty-first century relation between the United States and Japan and putting an end to more than three decades-long uncertainty in their relationship.