Attacks
on foreigners and Bakufu officials illustrated the propensity of the
unpopularity of opening Japan to the world. Edo attempted to alleviate the
situation. But as it progressed, conditions continued to sour. Explore
developments in foreign relations that placed Japan on the brink.
Diplomatic
Developments
Ports
of Yokohama and Nagasaki opened to world trade in 1859 and supposed to be
followed by Niigata in the 1860. But domestic violence resulting from recent concessions
questioned the practicality of opening ports immediately.
Indeed
the opening of Niigata failed materialized in 1860 as a result and the foreign powers did
not reacted. By the summer of the same year, Bakufu officials informed the representatives of the Treaty Powers of their intention to postpone
the opening of treaty ports. Townsend Harris, American minister to Japan, suggested
the move as wise, especially in the midst of long line of brutal and tragic assassinations committed by
disgruntled ronins.
But
even if the Japanese showed intentions to move the date of opening of ports,
they continued to sign additional commercial treaties with other European
countries. In 1860, Japan agreed to a commercial treaty with the Portuguese and
in January 1861 with the Prussians. The signing of additional treaties
caused an uproar, resulting to the assassination of Henry Heuksen, Harris' and
the American legation’s secretary, who assisted in the negotiation with the
Prussians.
By
1861, Russia, contented with its borders in northern Japan and consolidating power domestically, and the Americans, busy with their Civil War, took the sidelines
in Japanese affairs while the British and the French, already well-established
in the region, took prominent roles. Bakufu sent Kuze Hirochika in early 1861
to inform and to negotiate with the British Minister to Japan, Rutherford Alcock,
in their intention to postpone port openings. In July 1861, after the attacks
made on the British legation by angry Mito ronins, Alcock, realizing the
dangerous situation brought by the opening, accepted to postponement.
London Protocol
Japanese Embassy in the 1862 International Exhibition |
On
January 1862, a mission to Europe composing of 40 official delegates with
Takenouchi Shimotsuke as chief and their servants left Shinagawa. The mission
succeeded in securing an agreement in London on June 6, 1862, known as the
London Protocol that moved the opening of the ports for five years from 1863. Secretary of
State Lord Russell trusted Alcock’s decision and agreed to the Japanese proposal.
The
terms of the London Protocol postponed the opening of Niigata and other ports
and cities stated in the 1858 treaty until 1868. In exchange for the
postponement came additional concessions. It called for the abolition of many
restrictions imposed on foreigners like in terms of quantity and price of goods
to be traded, of fees to be paid, and of social classes allowed to conduct
commercial transactions with. The Protocol called for the complete and
immediate implementation of all the terms of the previous treaty in 1868. It
suggested as well the opening of Tsushima Island to trade. Reduction of tariffs
on spirits and other alcohols also was secured in the protocol alongside the
freedom to use warehouses to store goods without any fees to the Japanese government.
Terms
of the London Protocol was extended to other Treaty Power and approved, except
the distracted United States due to the Civil War. Hence, Japan and the Bakufu
secured a breathing space to re-consolidate its strength and quell domestic unrest.
Meanwhile,
the embassy sent to Europe changed the views of men who took part in it. Their
travel gave them an opportunity to see and to experience the tremendous
advancement of the west compared to the stagnate case of Japan. David Murray
wrote, “For the first time they saw the terrible armaments of western powers,
and realized the futility of attempting to make armed resistance to their
measures.” Moreover, the embassy also experienced the hospitality from the foreign
“barbarians” which shifted their perception. Yukichi Fukuzawa, a
translator in the mission, wrote, “… I felt as if a load had been lifted from
my chest. After all, the foreigners were not all ‘devils’…. I found that there
were among them some truly impartial and warm-hearted human beings.”
The
Protocol gave the Bakufu a chance to reorganize and reflect over its policies. It also gave them the opportunity to see what the West could offer to Japan. However, On September 1862, an incident worsen conditions at home and their relations with the foreign community.
Richardson/Namamugi
Incident
On
September 14, 1862, samurais guarding Lord Shimazu Saburo and his caravan attacked
a party of foreigners and killed a certain merchant named Charles Richardson
due to his disrespect of customs.
Lord
Shimazu Saburo went to Edo in July 1862 to secure the appointment of
Hitotsubashi Keiki and Matsudaira Keiei to important positions within the
Bakufu. By September he had accomplished his task and journeyed back to Kyoto
through the Tokaido Road. In Kawasaki near Yokohama, Shimazu’s convoy met up
with a party of foreigners consisting of a woman and three men.
The
party of foreigners planned to go to a temple in Kawasaki when they unfortunately crossed
paths with Lord Shimazu. A member of the party, Charles Richardson, an audacious
British wealthy merchant based on Shanghai, broke traditions and customs.
Traditionally, Japanese gave way and prostrated to a passing convoy of a feudal
lord. Richardson violated this customs by passing along the side of Lord
Shimazu’s convoy despite his companion’s cries for him to stop. Instead,
Richardson said to have boldly quoted, “Let me alone, I have lived fourteen
years in China and know how to manage these people.” Samurais guarding Lord
Shimazu acted to punish the disrespectful foreigner by giving him
a slash of their sword or two leaving Richardson mortally wounded. The samurais
also wounded the two other men in the party as they aid Richardson. Eventually,
the samurais allowed the foreign party to escape. As the foreigners reached the
village of Namamugi, Richardson finally fell to his wounds.
Body of Charles Richardson |
The
news of the incident infuriated the foreign community in Yokohama,
who felt tired and angry over being targeted by attacks and then by killings.
They began to form a punitive expedition against the culprit; but, the British
Charge d’affaires (and officer in charge while Alcock left for sick leave since
March 1862) Colonel Edward St. John Neale talk down and reasoned with the crowd.
The
Bakufu received the angry protest and loud demand for justice from Neale and
passed it to the Satsuma Domain. In October, 1862, the Lords of the Domain
absolutely refused to hand over the culprits and defended their samurai’s
action as it befit Japanese customs and acted only to punish an arrogant
foreign barbarian. The Bakufu relayed the rejection by Satsuma to the British
and then they washed its hands from the affair by stating its inability to punish or
command the Daimiate.
In
political view, the Bakufu wanted to remain neutral as they decided to avoid the implication of the Bakufu to any military retaliation from the British but also to avoid alienating Satsuma and
Lord Shimazu, who was their close ally in Kyoto.
On
December 24, 1862, Edo once again received demands from Colonel Neale. They demanded a full apology from the Bakufu and Satsuma, a payment of an indemnity worth £ 100,000 from Edo in addition to another separate £
25,000 indemnity from Satsuma, and the execution of the perpetrators in front
of British officers. The Bakufu did nothing while Satsuma remained defiant.
Britain already dispatched warships to Japan and prepared a naval squad in
China to launch a blockade of Japan if it came to worst. They had prepared to
exercise another gunboat diplomacy and in worse case, for a major conflict.
On
April 6, 1863, Neale renewed demands to Edo and Satsuma. He blatantly warned them
either to accept or reject, in which case Britain would launch “direct actions
against Satsuma.” Already, 7 British warships had anchored in Yokohama ready for action. The memories of Perry chillingly reverberated again along
with fears of an unwanted war among officials.
As
the British sought justice and amassed its impressive forces, Edo and Kyoto,
meanwhile, planned the expelling of the foreign barbarians either by force or
by diplomacy.
Explore also:
Bibliography:
Books:
Alcock, Rutherford. The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of a Three Years' Residence in Japan. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1863.
Beasley, W.G. The Modern History of Japan. New York, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publisher, 1963.
Beasley, W.G. The Modern History of Japan. New York, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publisher, 1963.
Craig, Albert et. al. East Asia: The Modern Transformation Volume 2. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.
Fukuzawa Yukichi. The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa. Translated by Eiichi Kiyooka. New York, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Fukuzawa Yukichi. The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa. Translated by Eiichi Kiyooka. New York, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 12. B. London: Whitrow and Company, 1820.
Gordon, Andrew. A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Gubbins, J.H. The Progress of Japan, 1853 - 1871. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.
Harris, Townsend. The Complete Journal of Townsend Harris: First American Consul and Minister to Japan. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1959.
Jansen, Marius (ed.). The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Marquis de Moges. Recollections of Baron Gros's Embassy to China and Japan in 1857 - 1858. London: Griffin, Bohn, and Company, 1861.
Murray, David. Japan. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1896.
Murray, David. Japan. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1896.
Oliphant, Laurence. Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan in the Years 1867, '58, '59. London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1860.
Satow, Ernest (Trans.). Japan 1853 - 1864 or Genji Yume Monogatari. Tokyo: n.p., 1905.
__________________. Kinse Shiriaku: A History of Japan, From the First Visit of Commodore Perry in 1853 to the Capture of Hakodate by the Mikado's Forces in 1869. Tokyo: The Naigwai Shuppan Kyokwai, 1906.
Ward, A.W. et. al. The Cambridge Modern History Volume XI: The Growth of Nationalities. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press, 1909.
Website:
Lord Elgin. Edited by Theodore Walrond. "Letters and Journals of James, Eight Earl of Elgin." In Project Gutenberg. Accessed on June 19, 2016. URL: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10610/pg10610-images.html
No comments:
Post a Comment