Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and Japan
Encyclopedia
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
on October 9, 1858, by Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros
Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros
Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros was a French ambassador and one of the first daguerrotypists. Baron and French chargé d'affaires in Bogotá , Athens and Ambassador to London - during which period he also travelled to China and Japan in 1857 and 1858 — he produced many famous daguerrotypes — chief among...
, the commander of the French expedition in China, assisted by Charles de Chassiron
Charles de Chassiron
Baron Charles Gustave Martin de Chassiron was a French diplomat of the 19th century. He travelled to China and Japan as one of the two Attachés of the French Embassy under Baron Gros, with the title of "Detaché extraordinaire en Chine et au Japon" from 1858 to 1860., together with Marquis Alfred...
and Alfred de Moges
Alfred de Moges
Alfred, Marquis de Moges was a French diplomat of the 19th century. In 1858 he accompanied Charles de Chassiron and Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and Japan in Edo on October 9, 1858.-Works:* Recollections of Baron Gros's Embassy to China and Japan...
, opening diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Treaty was signed following the signature of the Harris Treaty between the US and Japan, as France, Russia, Great Britain, and Holland quickly followed the US example: Japan was forced to apply to other nations the conditions granted to the United States under the "most favoured nation" provision. These 1858 treaties with the five nations are known collectively as "Ansei Treaties
Ansei Treaties
The Ansei Treaties or the Ansei Five-Power Treaties are a series of treaties signed in 1858, during the Japanese Ansei era, between Japan on the one side, and the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Netherlands and France on the other...
". The most important points of these "Unequal Treaties
Unequal Treaties
“Unequal treaty” is a term used in specific reference to a number of treaties imposed by Western powers, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, on Qing Dynasty China and late Tokugawa Japan...
" were:
- exchange of diplomatic agents.
- EdoEdo, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, KobeKobe, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Nagasaki, NiigataNiigata, Niigatais the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It lies on the northwest coast of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, and faces the Sea of Japan and Sado Island....
, and YokohamaYokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
’s opening to foreign trade as ports. - ability of foreign citizens to live and trade at will in those ports (only opiumOpiumOpium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
trade was prohibited). - a system of extraterritorialityExtraterritorialityExtraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations...
that provided for the subjugation of foreign residents to the laws of their own consular courts instead of the Japanese law system. - fixed low import-export duties, subject to international control, thus depriving the Japanese government control of foreign trade and protection of national industries (the rate would go as low as 5% in the 1860s.)
In 1859, Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt
Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt
Gustave Duchesne, Prince de Bellecourt was a 19th-century French diplomat who was active in Asia, and especially in Japan. He was the first French official representative in Japan from 1859 to 1864, following the signature of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and Japan in...
arrived and became the first French representative in Japan. A French Consulate was opened that year at the Temple of Saikai-ji
Saikai-ji
, more commonly , is a Japanese temple in 4-16-23, Mita, Minato, Tokyo . Its religious sect and principal image are Pure Land Buddhism and Amitābha respectively....
, in Mita
Mita
-Surname:*Ciriaco de Mita, Italian politician*Hikaru Mita , Japanese football player*Hiroko Mita, actress*Masayuki Mita , former Japanese football player.*Merata Mita , New Zealand filmmaker*Munesuke Mita, sociologist...
, Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
,, at the same time as an American Consulate was established at the Temple of Zenpuku-ji
Zenpuku-ji
Zenpuku-ji , also known as Azabu-san , is a Jōdo Shinshū temple located in the Azabu district of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the oldest Tokyo temples, after Asakusa.Founded by Kūkai in 824, Zenpuku-ji was originally a Shingon temple...
, and a British Consulate at the Temple of Tōzen-ji
Tozen-ji
Tōzen-ji is a temple in Takanawa, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It belongs to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism which has its headquarters at Myoshin-ji in Kyoto.In 1610, Ryonan-zenji founded it at Akasaka and in 1636 it was relocated to its present location...
.
The ratified Treaty was brought to the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
by Duchesne de Bellecourt, on February 4, 1860.
See also
- List of Ambassadors from France to Japan
- France-Japan relations (19th century)France-Japan relations (19th century)The development of France-Japan relations in the 19th century coincided with Japan's opening to the Western world, following two centuries of seclusion under the "Sakoku" system and France's expansionist policy in Asia. The two countries became very important partners from the second half of the...
- Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia, 7 February 1855.
- Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States-Japan)Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States-Japan)The , also called Harris Treaty, between the United States and Japan was signed at the Ryōsen-ji in Shimoda on July 29, 1858. It opened the ports of Yokohama and four other Japanese cities to American trade and granted extraterritoriality to foreigners, among other stipulations.-The Treaty:The...
on July 29, 1858. - Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the Netherlands and Japan on August 18, 1858.
- Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Russia and Japan on August 19, 1858.
- Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and CommerceAnglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and CommerceThe was signed on August 26, 1858 by Lord Elgin and the then representatives of the Japanese government . This was an unequal treaty, that gave Japan semi-colonial status.The concessions which Japan made were threefold:...
on August 26, 1858.