Reconstruction of the History of Japan's Opening: Analysis of International Rivalries over the "Frame" of Opening

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00996
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03020:Japanese history-related
• Research Institution: National Museum of Japanese History
• Principal Investigator: Fukuoka Mariko 国立歴史民俗博物館, 大学共同利用機関等の部局等, 准教授 (50740651)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 日本開国史 / 日米関係史 / タイ西洋関係史 / 東アジア国際関係史 / 幕末外交史 / 明治維新史 / ハリス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The most important result of this research project is the completion of the transcription of all the letters in the five-volume Private Letter Books of Townsend Harris in the Harris Papers of CCNY, containing majority of letters sent by him during his stay in Siam and Japan in 1856 to 1862 as the first American consul general and later the minister resident to Japan. After following through with their transcription and analysis, Fukuoka started on writing articles based on these data and the other multi-archival historical material, and finished two major articles on the subject of the history of Japan's opening to the West in the 1850s-60s: The one is titled “Bowring's and Harris' Treaty Negotiations with Siam in Comparison,” and the other is “Who is the Sovereign of Japan?: How the Western Diplomats Perceived Japan and Oriented their Policies 1858-1862,” both published in historiographic journals in Japanese.

Free Research Field

東アジア国際関係史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本開国史の解明のため、日米修好通商条約を交渉調印したハリスの記録は決定的重要性を持つ。しかし彼の史料は日記の他は研究が進まずほぼ未開拓であってきた。彼の膨大な発信書翰群が未翻刻であることが、研究の重大な阻害要因であってきたが、本研究課題の遂行によって、NY市立大学ハリス文書に残る彼の発信書翰群は全て翻刻と内容分析の作業が終了した。この調査成果を中核として、本研究期間中に最初の論文成果を複数発表し、今後も成果をまとめていく予定である。それを通じて構築される学術的知見は、日本開国史像の再構築に寄与するとともに、明治維新期の日本が置かれた国際的環境のより深い理解のため貢献し得ると考えられる。