Ansei Five-Nation Treaty

Japanese: 安政五ヵ国条約 - あんせいごかこくじょうやく

Also called the Ansei Provisional Treaty. A treaty of amity and commerce concluded by the Edo Shogunate in 1858 with five countries: America, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. After Perry's arrival, the Shogunate was caught between the stern urging of American Consul General T. Harris and the pressure of the Imperial Court-centered Sonno Joi movement, and after much deliberation, the Shogunate, under the sole discretion of Tairo Ii Naosuke, signed the treaty without waiting for imperial sanction. First, on June 19 of the same year, the treaty was signed with America on the American ship Powhatan off the coast of Yokohama, with Foreign Magistrate Inoue Kiyonao and Foreign Magistrate Iwase Tadaharu as plenipotentiaries. Similar treaties of amity and commerce were then signed with the Dutch Commissioner J. Donker Curtius on July 10, with the Russian envoy E. Putyatin on July 11, with the British envoy J. Elgin on July 18, and with the French envoy J. Gros on September 3. The main points of the treaty were as follows: (1) A representative was to be stationed in Edo. (2) The five ports of Shimoda, Hakodate, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hyogo were to be opened, and Edo and Osaka were to be opened to the public, with consuls stationed in each port. (3) Regulations for foreigners' leisure in the open ports. (4) Mutual respect for religious freedom. (5) No restrictions on exports or imports were to be placed. In particular, the treaty stipulated consular jurisdiction, and Japan had no right to independently revise tariff rates, making it an unequal treaty that undermined Japan's sovereignty. The treaty is said to have come into effect on June 5, 1863. As a result of the conclusion of this treaty, the Sonno Joi movement intensified, which led to the Ansei Purge and the assassination of Ii. In October 1865, under pressure from envoys from various countries, the treaty was sanctioned by imperial sanction. After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government made every effort to revise this treaty, but success had to await until after the Russo-Japanese War.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

安政仮条約ともいう。安政5 (1858) 年，江戸幕府が，アメリカ，イギリス，フランス，オランダ，ロシアの5ヵ国との間に締結した修好通商条約。ペリー来航後，アメリカ総領事 T.ハリスのきびしい督促と，朝廷を中心とする尊王攘夷運動の圧力との板ばさみになった幕府は苦慮の末，大老井伊直弼の専断をもって，勅許を待たずに調印を断行した。まず，同年6月 19日アメリカとの間で外国奉行井上清直，同岩瀬忠震を全権として，横浜沖の米艦『ポーハタン』号上で調印。次いで同年7月 10日オランダ理事官 J.ドンケル・クルチウス，7月 11日ロシア使節 E.プチャーチン，7月 18日イギリス使節 J.エルギン，9月3日フランス使節 J.グロとの間に，それぞれ同様な修好通商条約が調印された。条約の大要は次のとおりである。 (1) 江戸に駐在代表をおくこと。 (2) 下田，箱館，長崎，新潟，兵庫の5港を開港し，江戸，大坂を開市とし，それぞれ駐在領事をおくこと。 (3) 開港場における外国人の遊歩規程。 (4) 信教の自由を尊重し合うこと。 (5) 輸出，輸入に制限を設けないこと，など。特に，領事裁判権が規定され，関税率の自主的改定権が日本側にないことなどから，この条約は日本の主権を毀損する不平等条約であったといえよう。条約の発効は翌同6年6月5日とされている。この条約締結の結果，尊王攘夷運動が激化し，それが安政の大獄，井伊の暗殺を招くにいたった。慶応1 (65) 年 10月各国公使の圧力のもとに勅許。明治維新後，この条約を改正するため，日本政府は全力をあげたが，その成功は日露戦争後に待たねばならなかった。

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