Diplomatic Protocol in the Bakumatsu Period, with a Focus on Western Diplomats' Audiences with the Shogun

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26380226
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: International relations
• Research Institution: International Research Center for Japanese Studies
• Principal Investigator: Sano Mayuko 国際日本文化研究センター, 海外研究交流室, 准教授 (50410519)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 外交 / 徳川幕府 / 朝鮮通信使 / 欧米外交官 / 儀礼 / 幕末 / 連続性 / 東アジア

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research has shed light on the process that the Tokugawa bakufu established its protocols to receive Western diplomats during the last 11 years of its reign. The results have clarified concrete details and the historical significance of the "Bakumatsu diplomatic ceremonial", which was overlooked in the previous studies. From there, it has been understood that Japan, before the Meiji Restoration, proactively digested and introduced the essential part of modern diplomacy based on the concept of "equality" between the states; such efforts were rooted in Japan's own tradition of inter-Asiatic relations in which the reception of Korean envoys was core. As a next step, the research results should be compared with equivalent processes in neighbouring Asian countries, also paying attention to the interrelationships among them. This would lead to reconsidering the meaning of the encounter of the West and the non-West in the 19th century, and ultimately, the narrative of world history.

Free Research Field

外交史・文化交流史、文化政策