Japanese Diplomatic and Consular Officials in Russia: A Handbook of Japanese Representatives in Russia from 1874 to 1968George Alexander Lensen
Other Books (1968) pp. 1–230
Japan’s relations with Russia date back to 1697, when the Japanese castaway Dembei 傳兵衛 met the Russian explorer Vladimir Atlasov on Kamchatka. In the eighteen and early nineteenth centuries Russian vessels repeatedly visited Japan in fruitless attempts to inaugurate commercial and diplomatic relations. Treaties were concluded at last in the 1850’s–the Treaty of Shimoda (1854), opening three ports to vessels in distress and partly delineating the Russo-Japanese frontier, and the Treaty of Edo (1858), providing for trade and the exchange of diplomatic and consular representatives. Russia established a consulate in Hakodate in 1861. Japan did not reciprocate at this time. Only in 1874, when Russia opened a legation in Tokyo, did Japan send diplomatic representatives to Russia. Admiral Enomoto Takeaki, who only half a decade earlier had resisted the restoration of imperial authority in Japan, was appointed as the first Japanese Minister to St. Petersburg.
1968. 230 pages.
Hardback ¥2,000/$20.00/€20.00.