Samurai:  The Americans insisted that their mission was a peaceful _ one _ . But because we did not know if we could trust them , we chose a samurai whose task it was to muster our defenses . And that samurai was me . I ordered canvas screens to be stretched across the cliffs at Kanagawa . Behind the screens I was able to conceal five thousand armored swordsmen , carrying enormous bows , all of them on horseback . A most impressive force . And with the canvas masking them , our enemy might think that twice as many warriors were assembled . But when the Americans saw our screens they called out from the ships , ' Pull down those drapes ! What kind of army hides behind a parlor curtain ? ' And then they roared with laughter . Most discouraging . I mean , what are you going to do with people like that ?