The British Policy of Free Trade for Japan in the end of the Edo Period; Focusing on the Shimonoseki war in 1864

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Abstract

This paper discusses the policy focusing on the periodafter the Shimonoseki war, especially from the last half of 1864 to the middle of 1866 when a war between the Tokugawa government and Choshu clan started. Regarding the Shimonoseki war, British Prime Minister Palmerston wrote that our relations with Japan needed a “successful display of superior strength” and then at last “peaceful and settled commercial intercourse advantageous to both parties” would be built. That means he was going to pursue the policy of expanding free trade with Japan as the next step after the Shimonoseki war. Sir Harry Parkes, the British consul general in Japan, wrote about expanding their free trade that“the union of the Mikado (the Japanese Emperor) with the Tycoon (the Tokugawa government) on the foreign question was essential to the security of the relations based upon those Treaties.” That is to say that, the British Government took the policy of expanding free trade with Japan by getting the Emperor’s agreement. In a national conflict in Japan in 1866, the British government expressed a stance of placing importance on the official diplomatic relations with the Tokugawa government in order to continue trade. Therefore, the British diplomatic policy with Japan after the Shimonoseki war is an expansion and continuance of free trade with Japan.

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