Political and Diplomatic History of "Surveying" and "Surveyed" : Japan, the UK, and the US in the Middle of the 19th Century

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16815
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Historical studies in general
• Research Institution: Kyoto Tachibana University (2017); Osaka University of Tourism (2015-2016)
• Principal Investigator: GOTO Atsushi 京都橘大学, 文学部, 准教授 (60710671)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 海図 / 測量 / アメリカ海軍 / イギリス海軍 / 徳川幕府 / 幕末

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project focused on the surveying activities by the British Admiralty and the American Navy around the Japanese Waters in the middle of the 19th century. Additionally, this research considered how the Tokugawa Shogunate(government) coped with these activities by Western nations. In general, the surveying was regarded as an "External Pressure" in those days. However, this research revealed that the surveying activities were indispensable for the Western nations to carry out the trade with Japan safely, and simultaneously the Tokugawa government had gradually accepted the surveying as the necessary scientific technology, as the relations with Western nations got deepened. Through the primary sources of both Japanese, and English documents, these facts can be investigated.

Free Research Field

幕末外交史