FOREIGN RELATIONS. 1868-1893
Under the Tokugawa rule a treaty was concluded between Japan and Russia recognizing Karafuto (Sakhalin) as a joint possession of the two empires. Later the Edo government sent an envoy to St. Petersburg with a proposal that the 50th parallel of north latitude should be the boundary between the two countries. No final decision was arrived at, however, on that occasion, and it was resolved that each country should send an ambassador to Karafuto the following year to survey the island and determine the boundary. But domestic embarrassments so beset the shōgun's government that the promised envoy was not sent from Japan. In 1866 there was talk of dispatching an ambassador for the purpose, but nothing was done, while Russia was gradually pushing southward, until she finally encroached upon the region indisputably recognized as Japanese territory. The government of the shōgun was powerless at the time to offer any opposition, and shortly afterward it had to surrender the administration to the emperor. His majesty's ministers now proposed, through the intermediary of the United States, that the parallel of 50° north latitude should be taken as the boundary, but the Russian government rejected the proposal. Subsequently, Admiral Enomoto was sent as Japanese representative to St. Petersburg, and after much discussion it was decided, by a convention concluded in 1875, that the whole of Sakhalin should become Russian property, Japan receiving in exchange the Chishima Islands (the Kuriles).
When in 1858 the first treaties were concluded by the shōgun's government with five foreign powers, the Japanese plenipotentiaries, being entirely ignorant of foreign affairs, intrusted the drafting of the articles to the American minister, and merely indorsed the provisions proposed by him. A clause was added, however, providing for revision after the lapse of fourteen years, and when it was found that the treaties contained much which was injurious to Japan's dignity and embarrassing to her independence, a strong desire to effect revision began to be generally felt. Moreover, as a result of the firing upon foreign ships by the forts at Shimonoseki, England and France, in addition to exacting an indemnity out of all proportion to the injury suffered by the ships, took advantage of Japan's internal dissensions to impose upon her greatly lowered tariff rates. At subsequent dates treaties were concluded, necessarily on the same lines, with Portugal, Prussia, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Austria-Hungary, and Hawaii, and ministers plenipotentiary were accredited to most of these countries. The knowledge thus gradually acquired of Western states and of the international usages prevailing among them, served to increase Japan's impatience against the unequal conventional conditions to which she was herself compelled to submit. The government, not less swayed by this sentiment, did everything in its power to remove obstacles which foreigners alleged to be fatal to equal international treatment of Japan. The penal laws were radically altered, and codes consistent with the principles of Western jurisprudence were promulgated. Meanwhile, the term of fourteen years fixed by the treaties had elapsed, and the time for revision having arrived it was resolved to dispatch an embassy to Europe and America for the purpose of making known Japan's real condition and acquiring knowledge of foreign affairs. In October, 1871, Iwakura Tomomi, minister of the right, was sent upon this mission, together with a number of other prominent officials. In the United States of America he met with a cordial reception, the president promising to consider favorably the question of revision, and Congress showing a disposition to return America's share of the indemnity unjustly exacted from Japan in connection with the Shimonoseki affair. (The indemnity was actually returned twelve years later.) In European countries, also, the ambassador was courteously received, but failed to obtain any serious attention for the subject of treaty revision. The embassy returned to Japan in 1873. During the next years domestic affairs engrossed the attention of the government to the virtual exclusion of everything else, and it was not until after the termination of the Satsuma rebellion in 1877 that the government found itself in a position to approach foreign powers with the object of recovering tariff autonomy and reserving the coastwise trade. The effort again proved abortive. In 1879, however, an agreement was concluded with the United States of America, the latter agreeing to a revised treaty by which Japan's tariff and judicial autonomy was to be restored and her coastwise trade reserved, with the proviso, however, that the revised treaty should not go into force until a similar instrument had been concluded with the other powers. In 1880 Inouye Kaoru, minister for foreign affairs, opened negotiations with the plenipotentiaries of the European powers in Tōkyō, but the proposed revision having been improperly disclosed to the public, the negotiations were suspended. Renewed shortly afterward, they were brought within apparent reach of conclusion in 1887, after long and weary discussions. But in the meanwhile public opinion in Japan had been growing more and more impatient of the treatment meted out to the empire by foreign states, and more and more sensible of the rights appertaining to an independent country. On the other hand, the rivalry of foreign powers, the diversity of their interests and the difficulty of dealing with them all together, had involved the introduction of many irksome and humiliating conditions into the draft of the revised treaty, and when it was published in 1887 it provoked opposition that caused its abandonment, Count Inouye retiring from office. He was succeeded by Count Ōkuma Shigenobu, who reopened the negotiations, but was enabled, owing to Japan's improved position vis à vis the outer world, to insist on conducting them independently with each power, thus avoiding the insuperable difficulty of simultaneously placating seventeen states all influenced by more or less divergent interests. A revised treaty, on lines more favorable to Japan than the former draft had been, was now concluded and signed by America and Germany. But no sooner were its provisions published than the nation again became excited, especially on account of an article providing that foreigners, as well as natives, should be appointed to the Japanese judiciary. The cabinet decided to again suspend the negotiations, and a fanatic threw a bomb at Count Ōkuma which wounded him severely, necessitating the amputation of his right leg. Some time afterward he retired from office, together with the minister president, Count Kuroda, and in 1889 Count Yamagata became minister president, Viscount Aoki taking the portfolio of foreign affairs. The latter, together with Count Gotō, minister of communications, and Count Saigō Tsugumichi, minister of home affairs, were appointed joint plenipotentiaries for the purposes of treaty revision. But in 1891 Count Yamagata and Viscount Aoki retired, the latter being succeeded by Viscount Enomoto, who, in 1892, gave place to Mutsu Munemitsu. It was under the foreign ministry of the latter that, in 1894, Great Britain took the lead of all other powers to conclude a revised treaty with Japan, which went into effect on July 17, 1899, and which removed the consular jurisdiction from the open ports of Japan, in return for the throwing open of the whole empire to the travel and traffic of all foreigners. Coasting trade was also recognized as properly belonging to the domain where Japan had the sovereign right of making regulations. Tariff autonomy was largely recovered, and new import duties were drawn up, export duties being entirely abolished. Japan thus became, at length, not only a sovereign state free to look after its own internal and external affairs, but also a member of the family of nations whose legal status was considered on the basis of parity.
Meanwhile, the intercourse with foreign nations had grown more and more intimate. Many princes, nobles, and celebrities came from the West to visit Japan, and many Japanese statesmen and students traveled or sojourned in Europe and America. No vestige seemed to remain of the old sentiment of national seclusion. It may be interesting to say a word here about some of the distinguished foreigners who visited Japan during the Meiji era. Shortly after the restoration, the duke of Edinburgh, second son of the queen of England, came, and was followed, in 1872, by Prince Alexis of Russia, who was received by the emperor and was present at naval and military reviews. In February, 1879, the future William II. of Germany came to Tōkyō. In July of the same year General Grant, ex-president of the United States, arrived, and was hospitably entertained, the citizens of Tōkyō showing their appreciation of America's sympathetic attitude toward Japan by entertaining him at an evening party, as well as at a garden-party in Uyeno Park, at which the emperor was present and various kinds of Japanese sports were shown. At later dates Japan was visited by the nephew of King Humbert of Italy, the czarevitch, afterward Nicholas II. of Russia, King Kalakaua of Hawaii, a Grecian prince, and other distinguished personages.
Japan's relations with Asiatic countries were not always as cordial as those with European and American states. In the year 1866, owing to the misconduct of Chinese settlers, it became necessary to enact special regulations for their control and to restrict the limits of their residence at the open ports. When the war between the emperor and the shōgun broke out all the foreign powers declared and maintained neutrality except the Chinese, who secretly sold arms to the Tokugawa. Hence their access to non-treaty ports was strictly prohibited. They also contrived to kidnap and sell the children of indigent Japanese, and instructions were consequently issued to local governments to guard strictly against this outrage. In July, 1871, however, a treaty of friendship and amity was concluded between the two empires.
In the winter of 1872 some inhabitants of the Loochoo Islands were cast away on the eastern coast of Formosa and murdered by the natives, and in the following year some shipwrecked sailors from the province of Bitchū experienced the same fate. Soyeshma Taneomi was sent by the government as plenipotentiary to Peking to complain of these outrages against Japanese subjects, but the Chinese government made no satisfactory reply and declined to acknowledge its responsibility for the acts of the natives of Formosa. The Japanese government was thus compelled to take into its own hands the task of exacting reparation. In April, 1874, Lieutenant General Saigō Tsugumichi was appointed to the command of a punitory expedition to Formosa. No serious opposition was encountered except at the hands of one tribe, which, however, was overcome after some fighting. On the eve of sending this expedition, Yanagiwara Sakimitsu was dispatched by the Japanese government as ambassador to China, but as he found the Chinese much incensed about Japan's action and very anxious that her troops should at once leave Formosa, Ōkubo Toshimichi, a leading member of the cabinet, was dispatched as plenipotentiary to Peking. Meeting only with procrastination and inconsistency on the part of the Chinese, he broke off the negotiations and announced his intention of returning to Japan. But at this stage the British minister in Peking mediated between the two empires, and the Chinese finally agreed to pay 100,000 taels to the families of the murdered Japanese subjects and 400,000 taels indemnity to Japan for the cost of the expedition, undertaking at the same time to prevent the recurrence of similar outrages in Formosa.
After the Formosan trouble another complication arose between Japan and China with regard to the Islands of Loochoo. These had long been a dependency of Japan. In the middle of the twelfth century the Minamoto leader, Tametomo, driven to the province of Izu, made his way thence to Loochoo, and, having quelled a civil war raging in the islands, placed his son Shunten on the throne. Afterward, the Ashikaga shōgun, Yoshinori, gave the islands to the Shimazu family as an adjunct of the Satsuma fief, but from the time of Hideyoshi's Korean expedition, Loochoo having neglected to discharge its duties as a dependency, the Satsuma chief sent a force to the islands in 1609, took the king prisoner and conveyed him to Edo, whence he was soon after restored to his country. Shimazu then sent officials to superintend the affairs of Loochoo, and from that time forth the revenue of the islands was included in the yearly income of the Shimazu family. In 1873 Sho Tai, king of Loochoo, came to Japan and was formally invested with the title of feudal chief of Loochoo, a residence in Tōkyō being assigned to him at the same time. Shortly afterward the name of the year period and the Loochooan calendar were changed for those in use in Japan, and the laws of the empire were declared operative in Loochoo. Finally, in April, 1879, the feudal title of the ex-king of Loochoo was abolished and the islands were turned into the prefecture of Okinawa. The Chinese government thereupon advanced a claim that Loochoo had once been a tributary of the Middle Kingdom, and that it therefore belonged not less to China than to Japan. The weight of evidence was on Japan's side, however, and by the arbitration of General Grant, ex-president of the United States of America, who happened to be on a visit to the East at the time, the question was settled in Japan's favor.
Turning now to Korean affairs, it has already been related that an envoy was sent from Japan at the time of the restoration, but that Korea refused to receive him. It was on this occasion that Saigō Bakamari proposed that he himself would proceed thither in the capacity of ambassador, and that if Korea persisted in her unfriendly attitude, an armed force should be sent against her. But, as has been related, this proposal did not meet with the approval of the cabinet. In 1875 Japan sent another envoy, but again Korea declined to open amicable relations. An event then occurred which nearly involved the two countries in war. A Japanese man-of-war, en route for China, whither she was carrying a Japanese plenipotentiary, called at Chemulpo, in August, 1875, to obtain fuel and water, but her boats were fired on by the Koreans and two of her men were wounded. Incensed at this outrage, the crew of the vessel attacked and burned the Korean fortress. When the matter was reported in Tōkyō, the government sent Lieutenant General Kuroda, a member of the cabinet, and Inouye Kaoru to Korea, in the capacity of ambassador and vice ambassador, respectively. This mission met with success, Korea sent a letter of apology to Japan and declared her desire to contract friendly relations. Lieutenant General Kuroda accordingly concluded a treaty of commerce and amity, in which Korea's independence was recognized by Japan, and in May, 1876, Korea sent an envoy to Japan, opened the ports of Gensan and Chemulpo, and agreed that each country should be represented at the court of the other. Thenceforth the Korean government began to adopt some of the appliances of Western civilization. She improved her administrative organization, established a military training school where Japanese instructors were employed, and sent youths to Japan to be educated. These innovations, however, proved very distasteful to many conservatives in Korea, especially to Taiwon-kun, father of the king, who had always been on bad terms with the Bin family, to which the queen belonged, and which was at the time favorable to reform. Affairs were precipitated by discontent among the soldiery with reference to the removal of a minister, and being incited by the Taiwon-kun, the troops attacked the palace in July, 1882, and killed many of the Bin family, as well as several Japanese military officers. The same night the Japanese legation was attacked by a mob, and the minister, Hanabusa Yoshimoto, had to force his way through the city, escorting the women and children of the legation, and push on through the darkness to Chemulpo, where he escaped by boat, and being picked up by an English man-of-war, the Flying Fish, returned to Nagasaki on board her. He was speedily sent back by his government in a vessel-of-war, and entering Seul, demanded an explanation from Korea. China, meanwhile, had dispatched a squadron to the scene, seized the Taiwon-kun, and carried him prisoner to Tientsin. Hanabusa subsequently concluded with Korea a convention providing for the punishment of the malefactors, the payment of an indemnity of 50,000 yen to the sufferers and their families, and of 500,000 yen to the Japanese empire, the guarding of the Japanese legation by Korean troops, and the dispatch of an ambassador to apologize for the outrage. (Japan afterward returned to Korea 400,000 yen of this indemnity.) China and Japan both stationed bodies of men in the Korean capital, and Korea divided her forces into two bodies, one of which was trained according to Japanese tactics, the other according to Chinese. There were then two parties in the peninsular kingdom, the Independents and the Conservatives, between whom a state of strained relations constantly existed. In December, 1884, they resorted to open hostilities, and the king, finding himself in danger, sent an autograph letter to the Japanese legation, asking for help. The Japanese chargé d'affaires thereupon proceeded to the palace with a small body of men. There he was attacked by a combined force of Chinese and Koreans. During the fighting the king's mother was seized by the Chinese soldiers, and the king having declared his intention of placing himself in the hands of the Chinese in order to be with her, the Japanese retired to their legation, which was afterward assaulted by a Korean mob and set on fire. The chargé d'affaires made his way to Chemulpo and once more Japan was obliged to demand reparation from Korea. This time the task of effecting an arrangement was intrusted to Count Inouye Kaoru, who, proceeding to Korea as ambassador, escorted by two men-of-war, concluded a treaty providing that Korea should send an envoy to Japan to tender apologies; that the Koreans who had injured Japanese persons and property should be duly punished; and that an indemnity of 110,000 yen, together with 20,000 yen for the rebuilding of the legation, should be paid. In March of the same year Count Itō Hirobumi, a member of the cabinet, accompanied by Lieutenant General Saigō, proceeded to China, and concluded Viceroy Li at Tientsin a convention providing that China and Japan should withdraw their troops from Korea; that neither power should thereafter send a force thither without giving previous notice to the other, and that the Chinese soldiers who had taken part in the attack on the Japanese in Seul should be punished. Thus friendly relations were reëstablished between Japan and China.