She was ordered in 1853 from the Netherlands, the only Western country with which Japan had diplomatic relations throughout its period of sakoku (seclusion), by the shōgun's government, the Bakufu.

Kanrin Maru was accompanied by a United States Navy ship, the USS Powhatan and arrived in San Francisco on March 17, 1860.

As the flagship, Kanrin Maru was put to use in a display of military power reminiscent of the arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's black ships in Japan just a few years earlier.

Towards the end of the conflict, in September 1868, after several defeats by the Bakufu, Kanrin Maru was one of the eight modern ships led by Enomoto Takeaki towards the northern part of Japan, in his final attempt to wage a counter-attack against pro-imperial forces.

[4] Enomoto Takeaki finally surrendered in May 1869, and after the end of the conflict, Kanrin Maru was used by the new Imperial government for the development of the northern island of Hokkaido.