Abstract
In 1853 United States warships led by Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858) came to Japan to negotiate a commercial treaty. This event had suddenly thrust late-nineteenth-century Japan into a web of relations with the Western nations, and as a result, European international law was a topic of particularly urgent concern including some normative philosophical questions: What is Civilization? What are the rules in international relations? What are the differences with the existing order in East Asia?
Highlights
In 1853 United States warships led by Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858) came to Japan to negotiate a commercial treaty. This event had suddenly thrust late-nineteenth-century Japan into a web of relations with the Western nations, and as a result, European international law was a topic of urgent concern including some normative philosophical questions: What is Civilization? What are the rules in international relations? What are the differences with the existing order in East Asia?
If we focus on the exchange with the Netherlands, we cannot overlook the existence of another book which had the same title “Bankoku kōhō” published in 1868: Nishi Amane (西周1829-1897)’s translation of the notes of Dutch professor Simon Vissering(1818-1888)’s lectures on international law.[5]
We examine the difference between Vissering’ s lectures of Bankoku kōhō and the Chinese translation of Wheaton’s Bankoku kōhō
Summary
In 1853 United States warships led by Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858) came to Japan to negotiate a commercial treaty This event had suddenly thrust late-nineteenth-century Japan into a web of relations with the Western nations, and as a result, European international law was a topic of urgent concern including some normative philosophical questions: What is Civilization? If we focus on the exchange with the Netherlands, we cannot overlook the existence of another book which had the same title “Bankoku kōhō” published in 1868: Nishi Amane (西周1829-1897)’s translation of the notes of Dutch professor Simon Vissering(1818-1888)’s lectures on international law.[5] Nishi was sent to Leiden in the Netherlands with Tsuda Mamichi (津田真道1829-1903) in 1863 as the first students dispatched to Europe by the Tokugawa shogunate This was a pioneering effort by the Japanese to attempt a systematic study of international law. This paper elucidates what Nishi and Tsuda learned from Vissering’s lectures on international law, and investigates the significant debate among Japanese intellectuals, and its influence on Fukuzawa Yukichi, Nakamura Masanao and the foreign policy of Meiji government
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