UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Modern Japan, Episode Zero: Japan's Struggle for Diplomatic Equality, 1859-1894 by Yu Suzuki A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST, 2010 ©Yu Suzuki, 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69383-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69383-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Abstract From 1858 to 1894, Japan was not an independent state, because of the unequal treaties. These treaties forbid the Japanese to possess the freedom to set the tariff rate as they wished, and also the Western nationals in Japan were immune from Japanese laws. Naturally, Japanese elites resented the unequal treaties, and considered this as the most important diplomatic problem that they had to solve. Since the British were the most powerful Western nation that was against treaty revision, negotiation with them was prioritized. From 1858 to 1885, Japan was seen as a semi-civilized nation that did not deserve equal diplomatic status, but from the mid-1880s this started to change. Japan's successful Westernization impressed British decision makers, and by 1890 they concluded that Japan had become a nation that was more civilized than any other non-Western nation, and consequently decided to sign a treaty on equal terms in 1894. I Dedication To my family. 11 Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to thank Dr. John Ferris and Dr. David Wright, who kindly offered their time to supervise me throughout my Master's program. It was not until I had an opportunity to attend to the classes that they held during my undergraduate years that I became interested in the world of academia, and therefore they opened my eyes to the new horizon. They offered me professional advices and kind encouragements throughout my undergraduate and graduate years, and offered their time to look over the draft of this thesis as well. Without them, it was impossible to complete this thesis at the quality that it is presented. Next, I would like to thank the entire History Department of the University of Calgary. I studied under numerous professors of the department from the days when I was an undergraduate student, offering precious experience to expand my knowledge. Also, I would like to thank Ms. Brenda Oslawsky, Ms. Lori Somner and Ms. Marion McSheffrey for their help on administrative issues. Especially Ms. Oslawsky helped me on numerous occasions, and patiently walked me through some of the important administrative issues, such as application for funding. The department offered great funding, which enabled me to focus on my study. Lastly, I would like to thank the fellow graduate students, who I took seminars together with. Seminars offered me a precious opportunity to debate over important issues with intelligent colleagues, which introduced me to new perspectives. The History Department offered me an ideal environment to expand my knowledge, and therefore this thesis owes a lot to the entire department. It is an honour that I was accepted into the graduate program, which offered me an opportunity to work with great professors, helpful staff and intelligent fellow graduates, and would like to thank the graduate committee under Dr. Frank Towers, for approving me into the program in 2008. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my family. Without their support and understanding, it was impossible for me to come thus far. I am thankful that I have such an understanding family, and I was fortunate that I was surrounded by so many people who helped me to expand my knowledge. Calgary, 23 July 2010 Yu Suzuki m Table of Contents Abstract i Dedication ii Acknowledgement iii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Japan's Initiation into the Western Order, 1858-1882 15 - Japan's Modernization and Effect on its Power 17 - British Perception of Japan: A Remote "Elf-Land" 26 - Unsuccessful Negotiation 34 Chapter 2: Moving toward Revision, 1882-1890 41 - 1882-1888: Close, but not yet 41 - 1888-1890: Real Step towards Treaty Revision 50 Chapter 3: The Last Stage of Negotiation, 1890-1894 65 - 1890 to 1893: Crisis from Within 67 - Final Negotiations, September 1893 to July 1894 76 Conclusion 87 - Treaty Revision: Its Significance and Consequences 92 Bibliography 97 Lists of Figures Table 1: Government Ordinary Revenue and Investment 26 Table 2: Comparison of present British Fleet with Japanese 85 IV Introduction Japan faced several diplomatic problems after the Meiji Restoration, but the issue of unequal treaties ranked among the greatest of them. In 1858, Japan signed the American-Japanese Treaty of Friendship and Commerce. Other Western nations quickly signed treaties with Japan on the same terms. These treaties had two important characteristics: Tariff dependence and extraterritoriality. Under the clause on tariff dependence, Japan was forbidden from raising the tariff rate without the consent of the Western counterparts. Western nations set a tariff rate that favoured their interests. Tariff rates went no higher than 15% whereas the highest tariff rate in the West was around 30%; commodities considered "vital to British commercial interest" such as textile goods were kept as low as 5%. Japanese industries faced threats from cheap imports, and tariff dependence could potentially lead to a mass outflow of specie, and also restrict the government's source of revenue. Also, there was a clause on extraterritoriality, which meant that foreign residents accused of crimes were not subject to Japanese laws; instead, the consulate courts had the right to try them under the laws of their home countries. In the nineteenth century, extraterritoriality was carried out in non-Western nations through consular jurisdiction and the treaty port system. Under the consular jurisdiction system, foreign criminals in Japan were to be brought not to a Japanese court but instead to the consulate of the criminal's native country, and their Minister Resident would act as a judge. The Minister Resident was a diplomat, not a legal specialist, so decisions were usually more lenient towards Western defendants. An example is the case of British cargo ship "Normanton" in 1886. The ship, which was carrying 25 Japanese passengers, sank in Japanese waters. While the crew (mostly Britons) survived, all 25 Japanese passengers drowned, and the crew came under strong suspicion for not fulfilling their obligation to save their passengers. However, the Consular Court declared that the crews were not guilty. Under strong pressure from the Japanese government, the British Consular Court reopened the trial, but the change of outcome was minimal, as only the captain was held responsible for the issue and was sentenced only to three months of probation.2 This incident demonstrated the potential danger that extraterritorial rights posed towards Japanese sovereignty. If these foreign residents, protected with extraterritoriality, could travel freely into Japanese territory, 1 Gaimusho (Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) eds, Joyaku Kaisei Mondai Nihon Gaiko Bunsho (Japanese Diplomatic Documents Related to Treaty Revision Issues), vol. 1, (Tokyo: Gennando, 1936), 340-2. 2 For Normanton Incident, see Yuichi Inouye, "From Unequal Treaty to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1867-1902," in The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600-2000, Vol. V The Political-Diplomatic Relationship, 1600-1930, eds. by Ian H. Nish and Yoichi Kibata, (London: MacMillan, 2000): 141-2. 1 they could potentially cause damage to Japanese citizens and property without being adequately punished. Therefore, these residents were restrained to a district known as treaty ports, which were port cities that existed as residential