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Hotta Masayoshi was a ''daimyô'' of [[Sakura han]] ([[Shimousa province]]), and head of the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', famous as the chief Japanese official involved in negotiating the [[1858]] [[Harris Treaty]] (US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce), which opened four Japanese ports to foreign commerce, and granted a degree of [[extraterritoriality]] to foreigners in Japan.

Hotta Masayoshi was a ''daimyô'' of [[Sakura han]] ([[Shimousa province]]), and head of the ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', famous as the chief Japanese official involved in negotiating the [[1858]] [[Harris Treaty]] (US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce), which opened four Japanese ports to foreign commerce, and granted a degree of [[extraterritoriality]] to foreigners in Japan.

Masayoshi became lord of Sakura in [[1825]], and after stints as ''[[jisha bugyo|jisha bugyô]]'' (Magistrate of Temples & Shrines), and ''[[Osaka jodai|Ôsaka jôdai]]'' (castellan of [[Osaka castle]] on behalf of the shogunate), he was eventually named a ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', and then, in [[1855]], became head of the ''rôjû'' (''rôjû shuza''). He was appointed ''gaikoku-jimu-toriatsukai'' (essentially, "foreign minister") the following year, and in opposition to certain other prominent figures in the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], took a stance that Japan needed to engage more actively and openly in foreign intercourse in order to prosper. He thus negotiated the terms of a treaty with US Consul [[Townsend Harris]], resulting in the signing of the treaty on [[1858]]/7/19 (July 29).

Masayoshi became lord of Sakura in [[1825]], and after stints as ''[[jisha bugyo|jisha bugyô]]'' (Magistrate of Temples & Shrines), and ''[[Osaka jodai|Ôsaka jôdai]]'' (castellan of [[Osaka castle]] on behalf of the shogunate), he was eventually named a ''[[roju|rôjû]]'', and then, in [[1855]], became head of the ''rôjû'' (''rôjû shuza''). He was appointed ''gaikoku-jimu-toriatsukai'' (essentially, "foreign minister") the following year, and in opposition to certain other prominent figures in the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], took a stance that Japan needed to engage more actively and openly in foreign intercourse in order to prosper. He thus negotiated the terms of a treaty with US Consul [[Townsend Harris]], resulting in the signing of the treaty on [[1858]]/6/19.

Masayoshi returned to Sakura shortly after the signing of the treaty, and died there on [[1864]]/3/21. He is buried alongside his predecessors at the [[Hotta clan]] cemetery at [[Jindai-ji]], in Sakura City.

Masayoshi returned to Sakura shortly after the signing of the treaty, and died there on [[1864]]/3/21. He is buried alongside his predecessors at the [[Hotta clan]] cemetery at [[Jindai-ji]], in Sakura City.