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The Language Problem in the Anglo-Japanese Negotiations of 1854

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

W. G. Beasley
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Extract

At the beginning of September 1854, almost six months after Commodore Perry had concluded his convention with Japan, Sir James Stirling, Commander-in-Chief of the British East Indies fleet, took his squadron into Nagasaki harbour to negotiate with the Japanese officials there. Unlike Perry, his primary object was not to obtain a treaty of commerce and friendship. War between Britain and Russia had broken out in March, and it was his duty to hunt down, if possible to destroy, Admiral Poutiatin's squadron then in Pacific waters. This task, he realized, would be made much easier if he could use Japanese ports for obtaining stores and refitting on the terms usually allowed a belligerent by a neutral state, and if this meant that Russia could use those ports on similar terms, he was confident that he could deny her access to them by his own greater strength at sea. In fact, whatever secret hopes he may have had as to the ultimate effect of his discussions on Anglo-Japanese relations, Stirling went to Nagasaki principally to settle a point of practical importance to his conduct of naval operations. He wished to know in what light the Japanese government would view the use'of its ports by the belligerents, and was ready to suggest, perhaps insist on, a policy favourable to Great Britain.

Despite this limited objective, there followed an exchange of letters, some weeks of waiting, and a number of discussions with the Nagasaki Bugyoo (the Governor of Nagasaki), as a result of which Stirling obtained a convention similar in many respects to that of Perry, though somewhat more restricted in its provisions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , October 1950 , pp. 746 - 758
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1950

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References

page 746 note 1 Eckel, Paul E., “The Crimean War and Japan”, Far Eastern Quarterly, iii, 2 (Feb. 1944), pp. 109, 111–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Fox, Grace, “The Anglo-Japanese Convention of 1854”, Pacific Hist. Rev., x, 4 (Dec. 1941), pp. 412–13Google Scholar; it also appears from the accounts of Stirling's discussions with the Nagasaki Bugyoo, discussed below.

page 746 note 2 Grace Fox, op. cit., pp. 413–16.

page 746 note 3 Adty In-letters (Adm. 1), vol. 5640. Stirling to Sec. Adty, No. 71, 26 October 1854.

page 747 note 1 A brief account of Bettelheim is to be found in Wildes, H. E., Aliens in the East (Philadelphia, 1937), pp. 223–4, 260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

page 748 note 1 For. Off. Genl. Corres., China (hereafter cited as F.O. 17), vol. 97, Sir John Davis to For. Off. No. 11, 15 January 1845, and encl.

page 748 note 2 F.O. 17/129. Davis to For. Off., No. 159, 27 August 1847.

page 748 note 3 F.O. 17/138. For. Off. to SirS. G. Bonham, No. 29, 19 April 1848.

page 748 note 4 F.O. 17/159. Bonham to For. Off., No. 173, 14 December 1849. F.O. 17/182. Parkea to Hammond, 14 July 1851.

page 748 note 5 For his own account of himself, see the Japanese diary of discussions at Hakodate, 29 April-3 May 1855, in Dai Nihon Komonzyo—Bakumatu Gaikoku Kankei Monzyo [Ancient Japanese Documents—Documents on late-Tokugawa foreign relations], vol. x, pp. 67–8, 70–1.

page 749 note 1 Wildes, op. oit., pp. 198–210.

page 749 note 2 F.0.17/21. Capt. Elliot to For. Off., No. 58, 4 September 1837.

page 749 note 3 Bakumatu Oaikoku Kankei Monzyo, x, 71–2.

page 749 note 4 F.0.17/153. Bonham to For. Off., No. 15,2 February 1849.

page 749 note 5 F.0.17/190. Dr. Bowring to For. O'ff., No. 47, 16 August 1852.

page 749 note 6 Bakumatu Oaikoku Kankei Monzyo, vii, 507–510. Nagasaki Bugyoo to Roozyuu, 22 October 1854.

page 749 note 7 See, for example, English Diary of Negotiations, 27 September, 11 October, and 13 October 1854 (For. Off. Conf. Print in Adty. In-Letters, vol. 5657).

page 750 note 1 The most important part of the letter (the last three paragraphs) is given as Appendix A below.

page 750 note 2 The Japanese translation of the last three paragraphs appears as Appendix B below. In preparing the next section of this article I have received valuable advice and criticism on the Japanese texts from several members of S.O.A.S. whom I wish to thank for their help.

page 750 note 3

page 750 note 4

page 750 note 5

page 751 note 1

page 751 note 2 See Appendices A and B.

page 751 note 3 Bakunwiu Oaikoku Kankei Monzyo, vii, 247–250. Nagasaki Bugyoo to Roozyuu, 9 September 1854; ibid, vii, 250–3. Roozyuu to Nagasaki Bugyoo, 21 September 1854.

page 751 note 4 English Diary of Negotiations, 4 October 1854 (Adty, In-Letters, vol. 5657). For the Japanese record of the conversation see Bakunwiu Oaikoku Kankei Monzyo, vii, 378.

page 751 note 5 English Diary of Negotiations, 11 October 1854.

page 752 note 1 Compare English Diary of Negotiations, 5 October 1854, and Bakumalu Gaikoku Kankei Monzyo vii, 387.

page 752 note 2 i.e. would then become

page 752 note 3 In addition to the reports of the bugyoo to the Roozyuu, the Japanese records contain minutes of the various meetings, which are to be found in Bakumalu Gaikoku Kankei Monzyo, vii, 375–382, 410–18, 430–9.

page 753 note 1 English Diary of Negotiations, 4 October 1854.

page 753 note 2 Minutes of discussion between Stirling and Nagasaki Bugyoo, 4 October 1854, in Bakumatu Gaikoku Kankei Monzyo, vii, 379–380. The text of the Japanese summary appears as Appendix C below.

page 753 note 3 Or possibly “grant him pardon”—i.e. for his temerity in coming. I have not here attempted a full translation.

page 754 note 1 See above, pp. 11–12.

page 754 note 2 English Diary of Negotiations, 4 October 1854.