Japan: A Comparison

51 pp. Comprising "Japan at the Time of Townsend Harris" and "Japan To-day." ABOUT TOWNSEND HARRIS: Townsend Harris (October 4, 1804 – February 25, 1878) was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the "Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the diplomat who first opened Shogunate Japan to foreign trade and culture in the Edo period. President Franklin Pierce named Harris the first Consul General to Tokugawa Japan in July 1856, where he opened the first US Consulate at the Gyokusen-ji Temple in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, soon after Commodore Matthew Perry had first opened trade between the US and Japan in 1854. At that time, Japan was not a nation united under one leader, but was politically made up of jealous feudal principalities; the Shogunate ended in 1868, in part in response to Harris as envoy from the US since 1854, as William Elliot Griffis described the changes inside Japan after it opened itself to trade with the US and European nations. Harris played an important political role in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, alongside fellow Western diplomats Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Max von Brandt, Rutherford Alcock and Gustave Duchesne, Prince de Bellecourt. Although these men were bound by personal friendship, national rivalries and differences in dealing with the Japanese led to conflict and antagonism. However, the chaotic and ungovernable circumstances of the first few years forced them to cooperate. Harris demanded the courtesies due to an accredited envoy and refused to deliver his president's letter to anyone but the Shogun in Edo, and to him personally. After prolonged negotiations lasting 18 months, Harris finally received a personal audience with the Shogun in the palace. After another four months, he successfully negotiated the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, or the "Harris Treaty of 1858", securing trade between the US and Japan and paving the way for greater Western influence in Japan's economy and politics. He served during the first Japanese Embassy to the United States, during which a false report reached the US of his death. Unfortunately he was addicted to alcohol and the complaints about his functioning led to his departure in 1861. Upon his departure, senior Japanese diplomat Moriyama wrote to him "You have been more than a friend. You have been our benefactor and teacher. Your spirit and memory will live forever in the history of Japan." Harris was favorably impressed by his experiences in Japan at the end of its self-imposed period of isolation. He wrote: "The people all appeared clean and well-fed... well clad and happy looking. It is more like the golden age of simplicity and honesty than I have ever seen in any other country". According to a persistent legend, Harris adopted a 17-year-old geisha known as Okichi, whose real name was Kichi Saitou. The legend has it that she was heavily pressured into the relationship by Japanese authorities and then ostracized after Harris' departure, eventually committing suicide in 1892. However, it appears that Okichi was merely one of Harris' housekeepers, and the Kodansha Encyclopedia states that Harris fired her after just three days of work.