from 1852, the government of the "shōgun" (the late tokugawa shogunate or "bakumatsu") was warned by the netherlands of the plans of commodore perry. three months after perry's first visit in 1853, the bakufu cancelled the law prohibiting the construction of large ships (大船建造禁止令), and started organizing the construction of a fleet of western-style sail warships, such as the "hōō maru", the "shōhei maru" or the "asahi maru", usually asking each fief to build their own modern ships. these ships were built using dutch sailing manuals, and the know-how of a few returnees from the west, such as nakahama manjirō. also with the help of nakahama manjirō, the satsuma fief built japan's first steam ship, the "unkoumaru" (雲行丸) in 1855.