Townsend Harris and US-Japan Relations

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bpaaMjBpnoXWniCFmonp1N6TKBLESsYEpeJfMhZNSLA/edit?tab=t.0 Townsend Harris- First Consul General of the United States to Japan: 1858-1862 Townsend Harris was the first Consul General of the United States to Japan, and the founder of the City University of New York. He is particularly known for the US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce, also known as the Harris Treaty. Following Commodore Perry's 1854 Convention of Kanagawa, a US consulate was established at Shimoda. While on his way to Japan in 1856 to take up his post as the first US consul general resident in Japan, Harris concluded a trade treaty with Siam (Thailand); during his brief time in Siam, Harris is famously quoted as telling the Siamese king “The United States does not hold any possessions in the East, nor does it desire any. The form of government (USA) forbids the holding of colonies. The United States therefore cannot be an object of jealousy to any Eastern Power. Peaceful commercial relations, which give as well as receive benefits, is what the President wishes to establish with Siam, and such is the object of my mission.” Following these events in Siam, Harris arrived in Japan on August 21, 1856 (7/21 on the Japanese calendar) aboard the San Jacinto, with official documents from US President Franklin Pierce (replaced President Fillmore), and with the aims of concluding a greater commerce treaty with Japan. It is fair to assume that his statements in Siam reflect the attitudes of the US government currently regarding relations with Japan as well. Harris was given the temple of Gyokusen ji in Shimoda to use as his residence; on 8/9 (on the Japanese calendar) he raised the American flag over the temple and declared it his consulate. Harris remained in Shimoda for some time, and negotiated a draft of a treaty with Shimoda bugyô Inoue Kiyonao and Nakamura Tokitsumu. This treaty allowed for extraterritoriality some degree of residency, trading, and movement privileges for Americans within a set area centred on the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate. While many daimyô and others supported the shogunate in allowing Harris to visit Edo, feeling it was unavoidable given the circumstances (some of them perhaps fearing greater foreign threats of violence should the shogunate resist), many others strongly opposed allowing the US to station a resident consul in the city; some went so far as to say that doing so would destroy the spirit of the people. At some point in late 1857, a failed attempt was made on Harris' life; the men responsible, residents of Mito han, turned themselves in to Mito domain authorities. It was not until sometime later that Harris was able to enter into negotiations with the shogunate's Lead Elder (rôjû sh za) and gaik k jim t riats kai, (Foreign Minister) Hotta Masayoshi, to work towards a treaty which would open full formal diplomatic and commercial relations between the US and Japan. Harris is described as being "overbearing and arrogant," insisting on presenting a letter from President Pierce only to the shogun and refusing to speak to any other officials as to the nature of the "important matter" which he intended to speak to the shogun about. This resulted in Hotta being even more resistant and oppositional than he might have been otherwise, and repeatedly rejecting Harris' requests to travel to Edo. In the end, however, with the arrival of another American warship (Gunship Diplomacy), the Japanese relented. Harris travelled to Edo that December, was granted an audience with the shogun, and from that point forward, remained in Edo and entered more earnestly into negotiations with Hotta (Foreign Minister) Harris presented the Japanese with a draft treaty which provided for the exchange of formal diplomatic representatives & establishment of consular residences in their respective capitals; the opening of Osaka, Kyoto, Edo, and three other ports to trade; and rights of Americans to freedom of movement and free trade within Japan. He insisted upon the acceptance of this draft of the treaty and refused to entertain consideration of any drafts based on treaties Japan previously signed with the Dutch or the Russians. As a result, negotiations were dominated by Harris' demands and Japanese officials' resistance to those demands. In the end, the Japanese were successful only in rejecting the opening of Kyoto, and freedom of movement within the country for Americans other than diplomatic agents or consuls. Four ports, including Osaka and Hyôgo, were opened to American ships, as was Edo, to residence and commercial activities of Americans, along with the establishment of an American consular residence in Edo (moved from Shimoda) After roughly two years of negotiations and difficulties, in 1858 (July 29), he was finally able to convince the Tokugawa shogunate to agree to a treaty, opening a number of ports to US trade, and granting Americans a degree of extraterritoriality, among other points. Harris took up residence at Zenpuku-ji in the Azabu neighborhood of Edo in 1859, at the same time as the British consul Rutherford Alcock established himself at Tôzen-ji in Takanawa, and the French consul Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt set himself up at Saikai-ji in Mita. Townsend returned to the United States in 1862, after more than five and a half years in Japan. His time in Japan and relationship with a geisha named Okichi has been fictionalized in numerous plays and films, including Madame Butterfly, and Berthold Brecht's "The Judith of Shimoda." Source: Sakura castle - SamuraiWiki. (2025). Samurai-Archives.com. https://samurai-archives.com/wiki/Sakura_castle The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan, also known as the Harris Treaty after US Consul Townsend Harris, was the first treaty signed between Japan and any of the Western powers to establish formal diplomatic relations in the modern/Western sense. It came on the heels of the Convention of Kanagawa signed with Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854, similar conventions signed with the British and the Russians, and a formal commercial treaty with the Dutch. Signed on 1858 (July 29) by Harris and representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate aboard the USS P whatan anchored in Edo Bay, the treaty provided for the exchange of consuls, the opening of a number of ports, and certain freedoms and protections for Americans resident in Japan, among other provisions. Tairô Ii Naosuke ordered the Treaty to be signed despite the reigning emperor explicitly saying he did not support this move; combined with Naosuke's naming Tokugawa Iemochi the next shogun despite the Emperor's (and many daimyô's) support for Tokugawa Yoshinobu, this caused considerable resentment and anger among certain factions. As with other treaties of this time, copies were produced in the English, Japanese, and Dutch languages; however, where the Japanese had previously insisted on the Chinese or Japanese version being the official wording to follow, here it was the Dutch version that was to be considered the original. The Harris Treaty also differed importantly from earlier treaties and conventions in that it was signed by the shogun himself, making it the first treaty to mark the beginning of formal diplomatic relations; prior to this, the shogunate had insisted that no one higher than the rôjû (elder status in the Shogunate system) would sign such agreements, and that in doing so, the shogunate was adhering to its policies of maritime restrictions, and was not entering into formal diplomatic relations with any new diplomatic partners. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was followed shortly afterwards by similar treaties with the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France, granting the same privileges to each through the notion of most-favored nation status. A mission would be dispatched to Washington in 1860 to exchange the ratified copies of the Treaty; this 1860 Japanese Embassy to the United States would be the first Japanese formal diplomatic mission to any Western country. Provisions of the Treaty The treaty firstly established that the United States would appoint a diplomatic agent to reside in Edo, as well as a number of consuls to reside at and oversee activities at the treaty ports; in return, Japan was free to appoint a diplomatic agent to be resident at Washington, as well as to dispatch consuls to major American ports. Further, the diplomatic agents and consuls of both countries would enjoy freedom of movement within one another's countries; the treaty did not provide for freedom of movement for regular citizens. The President of the United States would, if requested, serve as a mediator in discussions or disputes between Japan and any of the European powers, and Japanese ships would enjoy aid and assistance from American ships, or American consuls in foreign harbors. This formed an early context, or initial precedent, for President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as mediator in the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Portsmouth which ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. A series of ports would be opened to American ships, including Shimoda and Hakodate which were already opened, Kanagawa (Yokohama) and Nagasaki as of July 4 1859, Niigata as of Jan 1 1860, and Hyôgo as of Jan 1 1863. Six months after the opening of Yokohama, Shimoda was to be closed to American consular residence and commercial activity. Within the treaty ports, Americans were to be free to lease land, purchase buildings, construct homes, businesses, and places of worship, and to worship freely, but were prohibited from building any sort of military fortifications. The Japanese were prohibited by the treaty from building any sort of fence or wall around the American settlements which would prevent free movement in and out of the settlement. Americans were also to be free to reside in Edo as of Jan 1 1862, and in Osaka as of Jan 1 1863, and to be free to engage in commercial activities in those cities without the intervention of Japanese authorities. The article on freedom of religion not only provided for protections for the Americans, but also provided that Americans were prohibited from damaging Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples, and from otherwise insulting or injuring Japanese religious practices or objects of worship. Stipulations were given for the areas within which Americans were to enjoy freedom of movement; in most of the ports, this was to be an area of 10 ri (expanded from seven at Shimoda and five at Hakodate), with exceptions for Hyôgo and Osaka, as Americans were to be prohibited from coming within 10 ri of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, an exclusion zone which in effect prohibited Americans from the entire city of Kyoto in the process. The area of freedom of movement around Nagasaki was also designated separately. Those convicted of certain crimes were to lose their privileges of free movement and/or of residence within Japan. Extraterritoriality was granted to Americans in Japan, who would be tried in American courts even for alleged crimes against Japanese, while Japanese were to be tried in Japanese courts even for crimes against Americans. American consular courts were to be made available for Japanese to file civil lawsuits against Americans, and Americans were to be free to file suits in the Japanese courts, against Japanese defendants. The Treaty banned the importation of opium into Japan, and surrendered tariff autonomy, containing a variety provisions specifying the types and rates of taxes to be paid for imports and exports, as well as providing for foreign currency to be accepted throughout the country as equivalent to Japanese currency, per its weight in gold or silver. It provided, also, for the Japanese government to be able to purchase ships and other military equipment and materiel, and to hire American naval and military men, scientists, and craftsmen. This set the foundation for the Meiji period hiring of a number of oyatoi gaikokujin - foreign experts in the sciences, arts, politics & governance, and military matters - to aid in or guide Japan's modernization/Westernization efforts. ‌Summary of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce 1858 1. Opening of Ports – Allowed U.S. trade in five other Japanese ports (instead of two as agreed in the Kanagawa Treaty: Edo (Tokyo), Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Yokohama. 2. Extraterritoriality – U.S. citizens in Japan were subject to American, not Japanese, laws. 3. Tariff and Trade Rights – Gave the U.S. control over import/export duties/tarrifs instead of Japan. 4. Religious Freedom – Permitted Christian missionary activities in Japan. 5. Most- Favored-Nation Clause – Ensured that any rights granted to other countries would also apply to the U.S. 6. Foreign Diplomatic Presence – Allowed the establishment of a U.S. embassy in Japan.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bpaaMjBpnoXWniCFmonp1N6TKBLESsYEpeJfMhZNSLA/edit?tab=t.0 
Townsend Harris- First Consul General of the United States to Japan: 1858-1862 
Townsend Harris was the first Consul General of the United States to Japan, and the founder of the City University of New York. He is particularly known for the US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce, also known as the Harris Treaty. Following Commodore Perry's 1854 Convention of Kanagawa, a US consulate was established at Shimoda. While on his way to Japan in 1856 to take up his post as the first US consul general resident in Japan, Harris concluded a trade treaty with Siam (Thailand); during his brief time in Siam, Harris is famously quoted as telling the Siamese king 
“The United States does not hold any possessions in the East, nor does it desire any. The form of government (USA) forbids the holding of colonies. The United States therefore cannot be an object of jealousy to any Eastern Power. Peaceful commercial relations, which give as well as receive benefits, is what the President wishes to establish with Siam, and such is the object of my mission.” 
Following these events in Siam, Harris arrived in Japan on August 21, 1856 (7/21 on the Japanese calendar) aboard the San Jacinto, with official documents from US President Franklin Pierce (replaced President Fillmore), and with the aims of 
concluding a greater commerce treaty with Japan. It is fair to assume that his statements in Siam reflect the attitudes of the US government currently regarding relations with Japan as well. Harris was given the temple of Gyokusen ji in Shimoda to use as his residence; on 8/9 (on the Japanese calendar) he raised the American flag over the temple and declared it his consulate. Harris remained in Shimoda for some time, and negotiated a draft of a treaty with Shimoda bugyô Inoue Kiyonao and Nakamura Tokitsumu. This treaty allowed for extraterritoriality some degree of residency, trading, and movement privileges for Americans within a set area centred on the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate. 
While many daimyô and others supported the shogunate in allowing Harris to visit Edo, feeling it was unavoidable given the circumstances (some of them perhaps fearing greater foreign threats of violence should the shogunate resist), many others strongly opposed allowing the US to station a resident consul in the city; some went so far as to say that doing so would destroy the spirit of the people. At some point in late 1857, a failed attempt was made on Harris' life; the
men responsible, residents of Mito han, turned themselves in to Mito domain authorities. 
It was not until sometime later that Harris was able to enter into negotiations with the shogunate's Lead Elder (rôjû sh za) and gaik k  jim  t riats kai, (Foreign Minister) Hotta Masayoshi, to work towards a treaty which would open full formal diplomatic and commercial relations between the US and Japan. Harris is described as being "overbearing and arrogant," insisting on presenting a letter from President Pierce only to the shogun and refusing to speak to any other officials as to the nature of the "important matter" which he intended to speak to the shogun about. 
This resulted in Hotta being even more resistant and oppositional than he might have been otherwise, and repeatedly rejecting Harris' requests to travel to Edo. In the end, however, with the arrival of another American warship (Gunship Diplomacy), the Japanese relented. Harris travelled to Edo that December, was granted an audience with the shogun, and from that point forward, remained in Edo and entered more earnestly into negotiations with Hotta (Foreign Minister) 
Harris presented the Japanese with a draft treaty which provided for the exchange of formal diplomatic representatives & establishment of consular residences in their respective capitals; the opening of Osaka, Kyoto, Edo, and three other ports to trade; and rights of Americans to freedom of movement and free trade within Japan. He insisted upon the acceptance of this draft of the treaty and refused to entertain consideration of any drafts based on treaties Japan previously signed with the Dutch or the Russians. As a result, negotiations were dominated by Harris' demands and Japanese officials' resistance to those demands. In the end, the Japanese were successful only in rejecting the opening of Kyoto, and freedom of movement within the country for Americans other than diplomatic agents or consuls. Four ports, including Osaka and Hyôgo, were opened to American ships, as was Edo, to residence and commercial activities of Americans, along with the establishment of an American consular residence in Edo (moved from Shimoda) 
After roughly two years of negotiations and difficulties, in 1858 (July 29), he was finally able to convince the Tokugawa shogunate to agree to a treaty, opening a number of ports to US trade, and granting Americans a degree of extraterritoriality, among other points.
Harris took up residence at Zenpuku-ji in the Azabu neighborhood of Edo in 1859, at the same time as the British consul Rutherford Alcock established himself at Tôzen-ji in Takanawa, and the French consul Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt set himself up at Saikai-ji in Mita. 
Townsend returned to the United States in 1862, after more than five and a half years in Japan. His time in Japan and relationship with 
a geisha named Okichi has been fictionalized in numerous plays and films, including Madame Butterfly, and Berthold Brecht's "The Judith of Shimoda." 
Source: Sakura castle - SamuraiWiki. (2025). Samurai-Archives.com. 
https://samurai-archives.com/wiki/Sakura_castle
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan, also known as the Harris Treaty after US Consul Townsend Harris, was the first treaty signed between Japan and any of the Western powers to establish formal diplomatic relations in the modern/Western sense. 
It came on the heels of the Convention of Kanagawa signed with Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854, similar conventions signed with the British and the Russians, and a formal commercial treaty with the Dutch. Signed on 1858 (July 29) by Harris and representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate aboard 
the USS P whatan anchored in Edo Bay, the treaty provided for the exchange of consuls, the opening of a number of ports, and certain freedoms and protections for Americans resident in Japan, among other provisions. Tairô Ii Naosuke ordered the Treaty to be signed despite the reigning emperor explicitly saying he did not support this move; combined with Naosuke's naming Tokugawa Iemochi the next shogun despite the Emperor's (and many daimyô's) support for Tokugawa Yoshinobu, this caused considerable resentment and anger among certain factions. 
As with other treaties of this time, copies were produced in the English, Japanese, and Dutch languages; however, where the Japanese had previously insisted on the Chinese or Japanese version being the official wording to follow, here it was the Dutch version that was to be considered the original. 
The Harris Treaty also differed importantly from earlier treaties and conventions in that it was signed by the shogun himself, making it the first treaty to mark the beginning of formal diplomatic relations; prior to this, the shogunate had insisted that no one higher than the rôjû (elder status in the Shogunate system) would sign such agreements, and that in doing so, the shogunate was adhering to its policies of maritime restrictions, and was not entering into formal diplomatic relations with any new diplomatic partners. 
The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was followed shortly afterwards by similar treaties with the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France, granting the same privileges to each through the notion of most-favored nation status.
A mission would be dispatched to Washington in 1860 to exchange the ratified copies of the Treaty; this 1860 Japanese Embassy to the United States would be the first Japanese formal diplomatic mission to any Western country. 
Provisions of the Treaty 
The treaty firstly established that the United States would appoint a diplomatic agent to reside in Edo, as well as a number of consuls to reside at and oversee activities at the treaty ports; in return, Japan was free to appoint a diplomatic agent to be resident at Washington, as well as to dispatch consuls to major American ports. Further, the diplomatic agents and consuls of both countries would enjoy freedom of movement within one another's countries; the treaty did not provide for freedom of movement for regular citizens. 
The President of the United States would, if requested, serve as a mediator in discussions or disputes between Japan and any of the European powers, and Japanese ships would enjoy aid and assistance from American ships, or American consuls in foreign harbors. This formed an early context, or initial precedent, for President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as mediator in the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Portsmouth which ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. 
A series of ports would be opened to American ships, 
including Shimoda and Hakodate which were already opened, Kanagawa (Yokohama) and Nagasaki as of July 4 1859, Niigata as of Jan 1 1860, and Hyôgo as of Jan 1 1863. Six months after the opening of Yokohama, Shimoda was to be closed to American consular residence and commercial activity. Within the treaty ports, Americans were to be free to lease land, purchase buildings, construct homes, businesses, and places of worship, and to worship freely, but were prohibited from building any sort of military fortifications. 
The Japanese were prohibited by the treaty from building any sort of fence or wall around the American settlements which would prevent free movement in and out of the settlement. Americans were also to be free to reside in Edo as of Jan 1 1862, and in Osaka as of Jan 1 1863, and to be free to engage in commercial activities in those cities without the intervention of Japanese authorities. The article on freedom of religion not only provided for protections for the Americans, but also provided that
Americans were prohibited from damaging Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples, and from otherwise insulting or injuring Japanese religious practices or objects of worship. 
Stipulations were given for the areas within which Americans were to enjoy freedom of movement; in most of the ports, this was to be an area of 10 ri (expanded from seven at Shimoda and five at Hakodate), with exceptions for Hyôgo and Osaka, as Americans were to be prohibited from coming within 10 ri of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, an exclusion zone which in effect prohibited Americans from the entire city of Kyoto in the process. 
The area of freedom of movement around Nagasaki was also designated separately. Those convicted of certain crimes were to lose their privileges of free movement and/or of residence within Japan. 
Extraterritoriality was granted to Americans in Japan, who would be tried in American courts even for alleged crimes against Japanese, while Japanese were to be tried in Japanese courts even for crimes against Americans. American consular courts were to be made available for Japanese to file civil lawsuits against Americans, and Americans were to be free to file suits in the Japanese courts, against Japanese defendants. 
The Treaty banned the importation of opium into Japan, and surrendered tariff autonomy, containing a variety provisions specifying the types and rates of taxes to be paid for imports and exports, as well as providing for foreign currency to be accepted throughout the country as equivalent to Japanese currency, per its weight in gold or silver. 
It provided, also, for the Japanese government to be able to purchase ships and other military equipment and materiel, and to hire American naval and military men, scientists, and craftsmen. This set the foundation for the Meiji period hiring of a number of oyatoi gaikokujin - foreign experts in the sciences, arts, politics & governance, and military matters - to aid in or guide Japan's 
modernization/Westernization efforts. 
‌Summary of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce 1858
1. Opening of Ports – Allowed U.S. trade in five other Japanese ports (instead of two as agreed in the Kanagawa Treaty: Edo (Tokyo), Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Yokohama. 
2. Extraterritoriality – U.S. citizens in Japan were subject to American, not Japanese, laws. 
3. Tariff and Trade Rights – Gave the U.S. control over import/export duties/tarrifs instead of Japan. 
4. Religious Freedom – Permitted Christian missionary activities in Japan. 
5. Most- Favored-Nation Clause – Ensured that any rights granted to other countries would also apply to the U.S. 
6. Foreign Diplomatic Presence – Allowed the establishment of a U.S. embassy in Japan.

Transcript for:Townsend Harris and US-Japan Relations

Transcript for:
Townsend Harris and US-Japan Relations