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Townsend Harris was the first Consul General of the United States to Japan, and the founder of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is particularly known for the US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce, also known as the [[Harris Treaty]].
Townsend Harris was the first Consul General of the United States to Japan, and the founder of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is particularly known for the US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce, also known as the [[Harris Treaty]].
Following [[Commodore Perry]]'s [[1854]] [[Convention of Kanagawa]], a US consulate was established at [[Shimoda]]. Harris arrived there in August [[1856]] with official documents from President [[Franklin Pierce]], and with the aims of concluding a commerce treaty with Japan. Harris became the first US consul general resident in Japan, and entered into negotiations with the shogunate's Lead Elder (''[[roju|rôjû]] shuza'') and ''gaikoku jimu toriatsukai'', [[Hotta Masayoshi]]. After roughly two years of negotiations and difficulties, on [[1858]]/7/12 (July 29), he was finally able to convince the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to agree to a treaty, opening a number of [[treaty ports|ports]] to US trade, and granting Americans a degree of [[extraterritoriality]], among other points.
Following [[Commodore Perry]]'s [[1854]] [[Convention of Kanagawa]], a US consulate was established at [[Shimoda]]. Harris arrived there in August [[1856]] with official documents from President [[Franklin Pierce]], and with the aims of concluding a commerce treaty with Japan. Harris became the first US consul general resident in Japan, and entered into negotiations with the shogunate's Lead Elder (''[[roju|rôjû]] shuza'') and ''gaikoku jimu toriatsukai'', [[Hotta Masayoshi]], to work towards a treaty which would open full formal diplomatic and commercial relations between the US and Japan. Harris is described as being "overbearing and arrogant," insisting on presenting a letter from President Pierce only to the shogun, and refusing to speak to any other officials as to the nature of the "important matter" which he intended to speak to the shogun about. This resulted in Hotta being even more resistant and oppositional than he might have been otherwise, and repeatedly rejecting Harris' requests to travel to [[Edo]]. In the end, however, with the arrival of another American warship, the Japanese relented. Harris traveled to Edo that December, was granted an audience with the shogun, and from that point forward, remained in Edo and entered more earnestly into negotiations with Hotta.<ref name=mitani>Mitani Hiroshi, David Noble (trans.), ''Escape from Impasse'', International House of Japan (2006), 268-272.</ref>
Harris presented the Japanese with a draft treaty which provided for the exchange of formal diplomatic representatives & establishment of consular residences in their respective capitals; the opening of [[Osaka]], [[Kyoto]], [[Edo]], and three other ports to trade; and rights of Americans to freedom of movement and free trade within Japan. He insisted upon the acceptance of this draft of the treaty, and refused to entertain consideration of any drafts based on treaties Japan previously signed with the Dutch or the Russians. As a result, negotiations were dominated by Harris' demands and Japanese officials' resistance to those demands. In the end, the Japanese were successful only in rejecting the opening of Kyoto, and freedom of movement within the country for Americans other than diplomatic agents or consuls. Four ports, including Osaka and [[Hyogo no tsu|Hyôgo]], were opened to American ships, as was Edo, to residence and commercial activities of Americans, along with the establishment of an American consular residence in Edo.<ref name=mitani/>
After roughly two years of negotiations and difficulties, on [[1858]]/7/12 (July 29), he was finally able to convince the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] to agree to a treaty, opening a number of [[treaty ports|ports]] to US trade, and granting Americans a degree of [[extraterritoriality]], among other points.
He returned to the United States in [[1862]]/4, after more than five and a half years in Japan. His time in Japan and relationship with a [[geisha]] named [[Okichi]] has been fictionalized in numerous plays and films, including Madame Butterfly, and Berthold Brecht's "The Judith of Shimoda."
He returned to the United States in [[1862]]/4, after more than five and a half years in Japan. His time in Japan and relationship with a [[geisha]] named [[Okichi]] has been fictionalized in numerous plays and films, including Madame Butterfly, and Berthold Brecht's "The Judith of Shimoda."
*Dower, John. "[http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yokohama/yb_essay01.html Yokohama Boomtown: Foreigners in Treaty Port Japan (1859-1872)]." MIT Visualizing Cultures. 2008.
*Dower, John. "[http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yokohama/yb_essay01.html Yokohama Boomtown: Foreigners in Treaty Port Japan (1859-1872)]." MIT Visualizing Cultures. 2008.
*Plaque on Townsend Harris statue at [[Sakura castle]].
*Plaque on Townsend Harris statue at [[Sakura castle]].
<references/>
==Other Reading==
==Other Reading==
*[[Oliver Statler]], ''Shimoda Story'', Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle, 1971.
By the author of ''[[Japanese Inn]]''. A blow-by-blow, non-flattering account of Harris' first year in Japan, in Shimoda. The book is particularly interesting because it uses a wealth of Japanese material, both national and local, to show how his presence affected national politics and also how the shogunate as well as the local Shimoda village officials dealt with this nuisance.
By the author of [[ Japanese Inn]]. A blow-by-blow, non-flattering account of Harris's first year in Japan, in Shimoda. The book is particularly interesting because it uses a wealth of Japanese material, both national and local, to show how his presence affected national politics and also how the shogunate as well as the local the Shimoda village officials dealt with this nuisance.
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
[[Category:Diplomats]]
[[Category:Diplomats]]
[[Category:Foreigners]]
[[Category:Foreigners]]