Chapter III: Anglo-French Diplomacy in Japan Forty Years Ago1

It is now some forty years ago since there took place in Japan some very interesting episodes of English and French diplomacy, which are little known to the Western public.

It was during the last days of the Shogunate and before the restoration of the Imperial régime. The Western powers with whom Japan had treaty relations were still few in number at that time. The principal of them were: The United States of America, England and France. Holland, though secondary, as she is, had some semblance of equality with the others from the fact that she was a nation which had had commercial relations with us for a longer time than they. Russia and Germany were already in treaty relations with us also, but in the practical sphere of diplomacy they had not played much part. It was England and France who displayed the greatest activity in that sphere. They were both represented by very interesting characters: England by Sir Harry Parkes and France by Léon Roches. It is needless to comment on what an interesting character Sir Harry Parkes was, as doubtless his biography is well known to my readers. I will give here, however, a concise outline of his life.

At the early age of fourteen years he was attached to an English consulate in China. He soon acquired the Chinese tongue, and his extraordinary activity and ability gave him good chances of advancing his position. At the time of the Anglo-French expedition to Peking he was attached to the English army, and many adventurous and romantic incidents are told about him in connection with it. After that expedition he was made English Consul-General at Shanghai, and soon afterwards transferred to Japan as minister, in succession to Sir Rudford Alcock. Sir Harry may be regarded as an adventurer.

Léon Roches was of a similar character; he began his career in Algeria in a most adventurous and romantic manner. He was subsequently made French agent in Tunis and thence was transferred to Japan, as minister, by Napoleon III. It was through his influence that France succeeded in drawing the Shogun's government into her confidence. Military instructors were sent from France, the Yokosuka dockyard was constructed with French materials, a young brother of the Shogun was sent a little later on to Paris, where he stayed for many years as the favourite of the court of Napoleon. In other words, French influence was paramount in Yedo, the present Tokio, the site of the Shogun's government.

Parkes arrived in Japan at that juncture. In the Crimean war, England and France, needless to say, were allies; so also were they in the Chinese war. At home the Courts of St. James' and that of the Tuileries were on intimate terms. Besides, in Japan, their interests, broadly speaking, were identical, and, therefore, their policy did not diverge very much, as far as their national interests were concerned, and yet their views concerning the domestic politics of Japan presented a marked difference. It was the time when, as every one knows, Japan was divided into two camps of public opinion. On one side the Shogunate partisans and on the other the Imperialists, amongst whom Chosiu was the most prominent. France sided with the Shogunates, whilst England gradually gave her sympathy to the Imperialists. Several reasons seem to have existed in connection therewith. At home, though Napoleon was apparently still at the height of his power, he seems to have felt the necessity of making some pompous display of power abroad, in order to appease the growing discontent among the people. Léon Roches was just the sort of man who would have done things which would suit Napoleon's secret designs, and therefore, when the conflict between the Shogunate and the Imperialists reached an acute state, it is said that France offered to help the Shogunate with her money and even with her military forces. On the other hand England, or rather Harry Parkes, thought that the Imperial cause was more just, and, therefore, deserved more sympathy.

It is now pretty well known to Western readers that, though in the administrative authorities the Shogunate appeared potent, in the question of the legitimacy of the title, that is to say, the sovereignty, the Imperial court was viewed as the only lawful head by the Japanese in general, nay, it was so in the point of fact. But in those days, foreigners used to say and to think that the emperor was only the spiritual head and the Shogun was the temporal chief of Japan, and they were unable to see what turning movements were approaching, the result of which would be the restoration of the Imperial authority and the consolidation of the country under one single head in the person of the emperor, as the sovereign _de facto_ as well as _de jure_. It was only natural for onlookers to fail to penetrate such matters, and Léon Roches, sagacious as he was, was unable to differ from others. With Harry Parkes the case was different. He had grown up in the Far East: he was well acquainted with the Chinese ideographs; he understood Oriental thought contained in books and documents, written with those ideographs. Besides, several of his countrymen already in Japan had kept keen observation of the true situation and had intercourse with several Imperialist patriots, and their counsel could not fail to be valuable to Sir Harry. He was soon able to realise the relative positions occupied in the organic composition of Japan by the Imperial court and the Shogunate respectively. Thus the English policy, that is Parkes, came to differ from that of France, that is Léon Roches. Roches's sympathy continued to be on the side of the Shogunate, even after the latter had suffered defeats, which may be shown by the fact that when Admiral Enomoto left the Bay of Yedo with his fleets after the submission of the Shogun and went to Hakodate, several French military instructors went with him. It is true they left the troops of Enomoto before the latter was brought to submission, but they would not have gone with him at all if the French representative had ceased to sympathise with the Shogunate's cause. Roches's influence had been gradually eclipsed by that of Parkes. It is imaginable, however, that should the advisers of the Shogunate have accepted Roches's offer as to money and forces, the course of the history of Japan might have presented some difference, although the ultimate end would have been just the same. Nevertheless, thanks to the loyalty and patriotism, before which there is no difference of sentiment and opinion amongst the Japanese, no countenance had been given to the policy of Roches by the Shogunate, which preferred its own downfall rather than an acceptance of foreign assistance.

As to Parkes, although his sympathies were elsewhere than with the Shogunate from the beginning, officially speaking he was a minister accredited to the court of the Shogunate. Nevertheless, he had sufficient foresight how to protect English interests, and, moreover, several other causes made him incline towards the Imperial court.

A year or two before, Ito and Inouyé returned from England to Chosiu. They were thoroughly changed from fierce anti-foreign partisans to pro-foreign propagandists. On account of this visit to and return from England, they became acquainted with several Englishmen who were then in Japan, such as Lowder, Glover, and Satow. When they, together with Takasugi and Yamagata and others, revolted against the then government of Chosiu, which temporarily had gained the power and favoured more conciliatory policy with the Shogunate, and established a new one in defiance of the Shogunate, Takasugi held an opinion that the time would soon come when the question of Chosiu _versus_ the Shogunate would become one of Japan _versus_ Western nations, and that it would be better for him to prepare himself for the future eventuality, leaving domestic affairs in the hands of his friends. He communicated this idea to his intimate friends, Ito and Inouyé, who agreed with him. He asked Ito to accompany him. Together they left their homeland of Chosiu and went to Nagasaki with the full intention of going to Europe, which would be the second voyage for Ito and the first for Takasugi, though the latter had once been abroad as far as Shanghai a few years before.

This was just the time when Parkes was appointed English minister and expected to arrive at Japan from Shanghai before long. At Nagasaki, Takasugi and Ito met with Glover and Lowder. They were told by them that Parkes was a person of interesting character, and that by effecting communication with him some great work might be done. Besides, they were told, it was not time for them to leave their home for Europe. Time was important, and it would be far more interesting if they were, for instance, to take up a plan for opening Shimonoseki to foreign trade. They agreed and returned to Chosiu. In no time the government of the Shogun despatched the second expedition to Chosiu, and war commenced, the result of which was a total repulse of the Shogunate troops.

Here I must say something about Satsuma. Kagoshima, the capital of Satsuma, had been bombarded by the English fleet a few years before. When peace was made, some kind of friendship began to be felt between the English and Satsuma men. Several young and promising Samurai of Satsuma repeatedly visited Nagasaki, and in one way or another they were also acquainted with the Englishmen whom Ito knew. Before the war with the Shogunate, Ito went to Nagasaki several times, chiefly for purchasing war materials, but it may be presumed that a good deal of diplomatic conversation took place between him and the Englishmen as well as Satsuma men. From these circumstances, and also from the circumstances which brought Sakamoto of Tosa into close contact with Ito and his friends, an understanding soon began to grow between Satsuma and Chosiu, which ultimately resulted in their secret alliance. In the course of a few years the tide of events turned greatly in favour of the Imperialists, and the Shogunate at last came to an end.

Soon after the battle of Fushimi no time was lost in intimating at the initiation of Ito the restoration of the Imperial Government to foreign representatives, who were at the time staying at Osaka. It may be presumed that an early acceptance of this situation was largely due to an understanding existing previously between the English representative and the Chosiu and Satsuma, through such men as Ito, Inouyé of Chosiu and Godai and Komatsu of Satsuma who were also frequenters of Nagasaki. Soon after that event the first audience was given at the Imperial Palace of Kioto to English and French ministers. At that time there were still many anti-foreign fanatics: on the way taken by Parkes from his quarters in a temple to the Imperial Palace, he was attacked by a fanatic. Several of his mounted English escort were injured. Goto and Nakai, whose names are well known in Japan, were escorting Parkes. They did their utmost in defending him, and killed the assassin on the spot, in consequence of which Nakai received severe injuries on his forehead. Parkes returned to his quarters; it was a critical moment for the Imperial cause. Ito was at the Palace: it was his duty to introduce the ministers to the emperor. Roches arrived at the Palace, but not Parkes. Presently a note addressed to the French minister came from Parkes, and also the tidings of the occurrence. Ito put the note into his pocket for a moment and told Roches to have his audience first, because it was no use to wait for Parkes. The audience ended and the note was handed to Roches, but it was too late for him to say anything. As to Parkes, Ito and others found no great difficulty in pacifying him, especially because the sincerity of the Government was demonstrated by the action of Goto and Nakai. Parkes had an audience of the emperor next day; and thus the foreign relations between the Imperial court and those of the Treaty Powers were formally established.

Thus we see that France once backed a wrong horse, but it was not in any way due to her fault. We have soon entirely forgiven and forgotten, nay more, good friendship soon began to be felt between the two nations. Military instructors, as well as jurists, were invited from France. The army was organised and distributed after the French system. The Code Napoleon was studied and translated into Japanese. The French language was studied in the schools. Even a special school was instituted by the Government for studying the French language and law. Of recent years, I am sorry to notice things have not gone so satisfactorily. Some sorts of coldness of feeling have entered between the two countries, compared with the Anglo-Saxon races. It is natural enough that there should exist more sympathy between Japan and England and America, because the latter two have a far more extensive intercourse with us--the greatest number of foreign residents in Japan being first English, next American. And yet I do not see why French and Japanese friendship should not be restored to the warmth of former days, or indeed be made warmer than in those days. Let us hope France does not repeat too often her errors of backing wrong horses--for on our part we have no thought of remembering long other people's errors which may be committed against us.

[1] _L'Européen_, July 15, 1905.