Page "Convention of Kanagawa" Paragraph 7

Perry initially refused to deal with Japanese officials and demanded to speak with the Japanese Head of State.

At the time, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi was the de-facto ruler of Japan ; for the Emperor to interact in any way with foreigners was out of the question.

Perry concluded the treaty with representatives of the Shogun, led by plenipotentiary and the text was reluctantly endorsed subsequently by Emperor Komei.