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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]], and became the first US consul general resident in Japan. 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]]. 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.

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."

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==References==

==References==

*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.

==Other Reading==

==Other Reading==