Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty

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The Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty (

most favored nation status with other western powers.[1]

The isolation of Japan

Anglo-Japanese relations began in 1600 at the start of the

Chinese exclusively at Nagasaki under a strict government monopoly.[3]
The isolation policy was challenged several times by the British, most notably in 1673, when an English ship named "Returner" visited Nagasaki harbor, and was refused permission to renew trading relations, and in 1808, when the warship
Napoleonic War
to attack Dutch shipping and threatened to destroy the town unless it was provided with supplies.

By the early nineteenth century, the policy of isolation was increasingly under challenge. In 1844, King

Matthew Perry was sent with a fleet of warships by American President Millard Fillmore to force the opening of Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diplomacy if necessary.[5] There was considerable internal debate in Japan on how best to meet this potential threat to Japan's economic and political sovereignty, but after Perry threatened to continue directly on to Edo, the nation's capital and to burn it to the ground if necessary, he was allowed to land at nearby Kurihama on July 14 and to deliver his letter.[6] The visit resulted in the Convention of Kanagawa signed on March 31, 1854, which opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American vessels, ensured the safety of American castaways and established the position of an American consul in Japan.[7]

The Stirling expedition

In early August 1853, Russian admiral

screw corvette Encounter and paddle sloops Barracouta and Styx
.

Stirling was not actually authorized to negotiate a treaty, and the signing of the convention came about due to a series of miscommunications.

Dutch East Indies Company factor at Nagasaki. The Japanese were served by Nishi Kichibei, a Dutch language interpreter who had a predilection for altering the tone or content of what he was interpreting.[9]

Specifically, Sterling sought confirmation that Japanese ports would continue to be denied to Russian vessels, at least for the duration of the war, even if this meant that damaged British ships would also be denied permission to dock in Japan for repairs and re-provision.

Assuming that Stirling was in Nagasaki to demand the same concessions as Perry, during discussions in

Kuril islands. Consequently, Stirling was received by the Nagasaki bugyō, Mizuno Tadanori, who had originally been sent by the Tokugawa shogunate to Nagasaki to negotiate with Perry, and who was familiar with the treaty which had already been signed with the Americans. Mizuno's preconceptions on the British intentions were bolstered by Nishi's mistranslations, and over the course of three sessions of negotiations (October 4, October 9 and October 14) the outline of a treaty was drafted, which Mizuno, together with metsuke Nagai Naoyuki
signed on October 14.

Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty (1854)

The "Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty" has seven articles:

Article Summary
I Opening of the ports of Nagasaki and Hakodate to British ships for provisioning and repairs
II Setting dates for opening of Nagasaki and Hakodate, with the British agreeing to follow local regulations
III Other ports to be used by British ships only when in distress
IV Agreement to abide by local laws
V Most favored nation agreement for any future port openings; equal treatment with Dutch and Chinese
VI Treaty to be ratified within twelve months
VII Once the treaty is ratified, it will not be later modified by future British visits

Article Six, stipulated that the terms of the treaty were to be ratified by Her Majesty, the Queen of Great Britain and the "His Highness the Emperor of Japan" within 12 months. At the time,

shōgun Tokugawa Iesada was the de facto ruler of Japan; for the Emperor to interact in any way with foreigners was out of the question. Stirling concluded the treaty with representatives of the shogun, and the text was endorsed subsequently, albeit reluctantly, by Emperor Kōmei.[10]

Consequences of the treaty

In the short-term, the Japanese were satisfied with the agreement, which gave no concessions which had not already been granted to the Americans, and which at least temporarily averted the possibility of immediate military confrontation. However, on the British side, Stirling came under immediate criticism as the treaty made no provision for formal trade relations with Japan,[11] and the question of extraterritoriality for foreigners was vaguely worded. Furthermore, the final clause in the treaty seemed to preclude the possibility of further negotiations. The only opening left to Great Britain was an informal promise that he would send a steam yacht as a present for the Shogun of Japan.

Lord Elgin was sent by Queen Victoria in 1858 to negotiate the trade agreement, using the delivery of the yacht as an excuse to start discussions. This led to the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1858, which allowed the establishment of foreign concessions, extraterritoriality for foreigners, and minimal import taxes for foreign goods. The Japanese chafed under the "unequal treaty system" which characterized Asian and Western relations during this period.[12] The Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty was also followed by similar agreements with the Russians (Treaty of Shimoda, 7 February 1855).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ G. Fox, The Anglo-Japanese Convention of 1854
  2. ^ The Red Seal permit was re-discovered in 1985 by Professor Hayashi Nozomu, in the Bodleian Library. Massarella, Derek; Tytler Izumi K. (1990) "The Japonian Charters" Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp 189–205.
  3. ^ W. G. Beasley, The Meiji Restoration, p.74–77
  4. ^ W. G. Beasley, The Meiji Restoration, p.78
  5. ^ J. W. Hall, Japan, p.207.
  6. ^ W. G. Beasley, The Meiji Restoration, p.89.
  7. ^ Perry, Matthew Calbraith (1856). Narrative of the expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, 1856. Archived 2017-05-19 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ W. G. Beasley, The Language Problem in the Anglo-Japanese Negotiations of 1854
  9. ^ Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), Escape from Impasse, International House of Japan (2006), 222–232.
  10. ^ Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds, pp. 173–185.
  11. ISBN 978-1-873410-43-1
    .
  12. ^ Bert Edström, Bert. (2000). The Japanese and Europe: Images and Perceptions, p. 101.

References

External links

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