A Political Consideration on the Japan-Italy TreatyRevision Relations During the Inoue Kaoru Foreign Affairs Era (1879-1887) Centering on Japanese and Italian Primary Sources

Abstract

In the early Meiji Era, the revision of the so-called “Unequal Treaties” was an issue of vital importance to the Japanese government. In particular, since the early 1880s Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru (1836-1915), unlike his predecessor Terashima Munenori (1832-1893), who had given priority to the acquisition of tariff autonomy, sought to include in the negotiations with foreign powers also the abolition of extraterritoriality. In this context, the Kingdom of Italy found itself playing a significant role in Inoue’s foreign policy in the 1870s after the Italian diplomats in Tokyo had shown a strong interest in treaty revision aiming to obtain the right for the Italian traders to circulate freely in Japan’s inland areas in exchange for the renunciation of their extraterritorial rights. Since the Japan-Italy Treaty Revision Relations during the management of the Japanese Foreign Ministry by Inoue (1879-1887) have not received sufficient consideration by either Italian or Japanese historiographies, this research aims to examine it in detail, focusing the analysis on the strategic importance that the Kingdom of Italy had for the Japan government in the 1880s. Some still unclarified issues will be illuminated mainly by making use of Japanese primary sources and integrating them with the Italian ones.