For the time being, the Japanese decided to accept the document because, after years of isolation, their defenses were wholly inadequate to resist an American landing. Many of the daimyo advocated granting trading rights but only to the Americans or perhaps to the Americans and the Russians but certainly on a very limited scope. More importantly, some such as Kuroda Nagahiro advocated lifting the ban on building large ships and developing a naval fleet in the image of the west. It is clear that the spirit of military reform that would mark the Meiji period and lead to victories in the Russo-Japanese and Sino-Japanese wars was directly influenced by the influence of foreign ships on Japan. Furthermore, military actions to deal with the "barbarians" were often led by domains such as the Choshu which heightened the conflict between these domains and the shogunate. Foreign interaction also played its role in the bringing of the Meiji restoration by arousing anti-shogun sentiments when the shogunate would sign treaties with foreign powers without consulting the court, enraging members of the sonno joi faction. More on this will be covered shortly.
Southern domains of Japan, especially the Satsuma and Choshu, played a large role in the overthrow of the shogunate. The Choshu domain had supported the expulsion of foreigners for a long time and when, after court/shogunate relations had improved, the Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi declared his intent to expel the foreign barbarians from Japan (Tokugawa Iemochi had desired Komei's sister's hand in marriage and in order for Komei to consent to this Tokugawa Iemochi had to promise to attempt to expel the barbarians. It is important to note that it was absolutely not the desire of the shogunate to expel the barbarians.) the Choshu immediately began to build up fortifications along the shore and on June 24th, the day Tokugawa Iemochi had declared that joi (the expulsion of barbarians) would commence, the Choshu began shelling foreign ships.