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.