FOREIGN OFFICE FILES FOR JAPAN AND THE FAR EAST
Series One: Embassy & Consular Archives - Japan (1905-1940)
(Public Record Office Class FO 262)

Part 1: Correspondence to and from Japan, 1905-1920
(PRO Class FO 262/1466-1511 & 2033-2034)

Through the complete files of the British Embassy and Consular Archives in Japan this project documents the immense political, social and economic changes in Japan since the beginning of this century.

Part 1: Imperial Expansion and the Rise of Capitalism concentrates on the years 1905-1920, and in particular on correspondence to and from Japan. Immediately after the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) Japan acquired significant and increased recognition around the world. Theodore Roosevelt conducted the Peace Treaty at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. The Great Powers opened embassies in Tokyo and Japanese legations in London, Washington, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome and St Petersburg were raised to the status of embassies. Sir Claude M MacDonald was appointed as the first British Ambassador in Tokyo in November 1905. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 was renewed and revised.

The last decade of the Meiji era witnessed the growth of a new confidence, and intensification in national pride, experimentation in the realms of literature and art, imperial expansion in the form of the annexation of Korea and extended spheres of influence in Manchuria.

The diplomatic offensive against China and the 'Twenty One Demands' of 1915 brought further territorial, commercial and economic advantages, but awakened British and particularly American eyes to the consequences of Japanese opportunism.

Japan sent a strong delegation of sixty members to the Paris Peace Conference at the end of the First World War. Japan was given a permanent seat on the newly created Council of the League of Nations. This amounted to full recognition of Japan’s status as a world power.

From 1918 Japanese troops were involved in the Allied interventions in Siberia. Japan took part in the important Washington Conference, 1921-22. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was replaced by a ‘Four Power Treaty’ with Britain, France and the United States. This rise to world power status was already well recognised by 1920 with the ‘Four Power’ discussions on Loans to China, continued involvement in Siberia, discussions on the future of India and a regular exchange of ideas on all the major issues of the time.

This exchange of ideas is well documented in the Foreign Office Files covered by this microfilm edition.

Throughout the entire period these files are packed with information on all subjects. The data and assessments give us a fascinating insight into the views, policies, decisions and actions of the Japanese, British, Americans, Soviets, Chinese and other nations involved all over the Far East.

Subjects featured include the First World War, the Russian Revolution, Railways in Manchuria, Customs Duties and Tariffs, Commercial Legislation, Trade Marks and Patents, International Trade and Shipping, Treaty Negotiations, Immigration, Taxation, Prize Courts, the Boycott of Japanese Goods in China, Fishery Limits, Industrial and Economic Expansion, Loans to China, Animal Diseases, Perpetual Leases, the Japanese Red Cross Society, Japanese Prisons, Trade Restrictions during the First World War and Prohibitions on Trading with the Enemy.

A fuller flavour of the subject contents of these files is given in the detailed listing in the paperback guide. The material is arranged chronologically, but Correspondence to the Japanese is contained under separate piece numbers to Correspondence from the Japanese.

The following is an example of a typical entry. It is an extract from the Minutes of a Meeting of the Most Influential Men held at the House of Marquis Katsura on 14 March 1909:

"Marquis Inouye declared the meeting open and explained the reasons for it being called which may be summarised as follows:

… He was happy to say that owing to the friendly relations existing between Japan and England, and to the Political Alliance, and the daily drawing closer of the bonds uniting the two countries which, on the economic side, was leading to the formation or consideration of joint commercial undertakings whose fruitful results would, he believed, add to the permanence and value of the Political Alliance, the joint Anglo-Japanese Hydro-Electric undertaking assumed a considerable national importance, intensified owing to the fact that owing to the present commercial depression in Japan, a difficulty had arisen at an advanced stage of the negotiations, viz:- the Japanese side found it difficult to raise their half of the capital. At this juncture, the British side had come forward with an offer to find four-fifths of the capital if necessary, but he was of the opinion that the Japanese side should make a great effort to provide all of their half, especially as the money market is now easing…"

Another example concerns the careful watch on suspect persons and suspicious firms after Japanese entry into the First World War. It refers to the frequent visits of G Kiehl to No.19 Gochome Hirakawa Cho where he is met by other Germans:

"There is said to be a German Reference Library at this house which is where I believe the late Dr Scriba’s widow lives. It would be interesting to know whether the Germans use this library as an excuse for meetings or whether the books in the library are consulted with a view to preparing material for Propaganda." (See entry for March 11, 1918.)

A final example is the following Confidential Note from the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, January 29, 1919:

"The Japanese Government have not been unmindful of the report that Chinese coolies enlisted in the Bolshevik forces have been engaging in the horrible acts of carnage and devastation in Russia. No effective measures, however, have yet been found to see to the release of those coolies from Bolshevik association. The action contemplated in the proposed telegram from the British Government to their representative at Peking, text of which His Excellency the British Ambassador was so good as to communicated to Mr Shidehara on January 20, does not seem to the Japanese Government to serve the desired end. The summons to be made by the Chinese Government to the Government of the Soviets for discharging the men from the Bolshevik army might be wholly ignored or peremptorily rejected, and, in that event, the Chinese Government would be place in a peculiarly awkward position. If, on the other hand, such summons is readily accepted, then it should be presumed that the Chinese so discharged are in all probability entrusted with the sinister mission of Bolshevik propaganda in China and elsewhere. The repatriation of more than ten thousand men given to lawless habit and anarchic tendency would no doubt be a source of grave danger to the public order and security, particularly in a country which is inadequately equipped with police organisation. In any case, it appears inadvisable, in the interest of both China and the Allied Powers, to proceed to any definite course of action, until fuller and more precise information of the actual conditions of those coolies is obtained."