The foreign employees in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as ''O-yatoi Gaikokujin'' (

Kyūjitai ''Kyūjitai'' ( ja, 舊字體 / 旧字体, lit=old character forms) are the traditional forms of kanji, Chinese written characters used in Japanese. Their simplified counterparts are ''shinjitai'' ( ja, 新字体, lit=new character forms, lab ...

: ,

Shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji used in Japan since the promulgation of the Tōyō Kanji List in 1946. Some of the new forms found in ''shinjitai'' are also found in Simplified Chinese characters, but ''shinjitai'' is generally not as extensiv ...

: , "hired foreigners"), were hired by the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

and municipalities for their specialized knowledge and skill to assist in the

modernization Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...

of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

. The term came from ''Yatoi'' (a person hired temporarily, a day laborer), was politely applied for hired foreigner as ''O-yatoi

gaikokujin is a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically being applied to foreigners of non-Japanese ethnicity and those from the Japanese diaspora who are not Japanese citizens. The word is composed of two kanji: and ...

''. The total number is over 2,000, probably reaches 3,000 (with thousands more in the private sector). Until 1899, more than 800 hired foreign experts continued to be employed by the government, and many others were employed privately. Their occupation varied, ranging from high salaried government advisors, college professors and instructor, to ordinary salaried technicians. Along the process of the opening of the country, the

Tokugawa Shogun The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...

ate government first hired, German diplomat

Philipp Franz von Siebold Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German physician, botanist and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora (plants), flora and fauna (animals), fauna and the introduction of ...

as diplomatic advisor, Dutch naval engineer Hendrik Hardes for Nagasaki Arsenal and Willem Johan Cornelis, Ridder Huijssen van Kattendijke for

Nagasaki Naval Training Center The was a naval training institute, between 1855 when it was established by the government of the Tokugawa shogunate, until 1859, when it was transferred to Tsukiji in Edo. During the Bakumatsu period, the Japanese government faced increasing i ...

, French naval engineer

François Léonce Verny François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of ...

for Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, and British civil engineer

Richard Henry Brunton Richard Henry Brunton FRGS MICE (26 December 1841 – 24 April 1901) was the so-called " Father of Japanese lighthouses". Brunton was born in Muchalls, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He was employed by the government of Meiji period Japan as a f ...

. Most of the O-yatoi was appointed through government approval with two or three years contract, and took their responsibility properly in Japan, except some cases. As the Public Works hired almost 40% of the total number of the O-yatois, the main goal in hiring the O-yatois was to obtain transfers of technology and advice on systems and cultural ways. Therefore, young Japanese officers gradually took over the post of the O-yatoi after they completed training and education at the Imperial College, Tokyo, the Imperial College of Engineering or studying abroad. The O-yatois were highly paid; in 1874, they numbered 520 men, at which time their salaries came to ¥2.272 million, or 33.7 percent of the national annual budget. The salary system was equivalent to the British India, for instance, the chief engineer of the British India's Public Works was paid 2,500 Rs/month which was almost same as 1,000 Yen, salary of Thomas William Kinder, superintendent of the Osaka Mint in 1870. Despite the value they provided in the modernization of Japan, the Japanese government did not consider it prudent for them to settle in Japan permanently. After the contract terminated, most of them returned to their country except some, like Josiah Conder and

William Kinninmond Burton William Kinnimond Burton (11 May 1856 – 5 August 1899) was a Scottish engineer, photographer and photography writer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, who lived most of his career in Meiji period Japan. Biography Early life Burton was born in ...

. The system was officially terminated in 1899 when

extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdiction was usually cla ...

came to an end in Japan. Nevertheless, similar employment of foreigners persists in Japan, particularly within the national

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

system and

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

Notable O-yatoi gaikokujin

Agriculture

William Smith Clark William Smith Clark (July 31, 1826 – March 9, 1886) was an American professor of chemistry, botany and zoology, a colonel during the American Civil War, and a leader in agricultural education. Raised and schooled in Easthampton, Massachuset ...

Edwin Dun Edwin Dun (June 19, 1848 – May 15, 1931) was a rancher from Ohio who was employed as an ''o-yatoi gaikokujin'' in Hokkaidō by the Hokkaidō Development Commission (''Kaitakushi'') and advised the Japanese government on modernizing agricu ...

Max Fesca Max Fesca (31 March 1846 – 31 October 1917) was a German specialist in agricultural science and agronomy, hired by the Meiji government of Japan as a foreign advisor from 1882–1894. Biography Fesca was born in Soldin, Neumark, Province of ...

Oskar Kellner Oskar (Oscar) Johann Kellner (13 May 1851 - 12 September 1911) was a German agricultural scientist (''Agrikulturchemiker, Tierphysiologe''). Biography Kellner was invited to teach in Japan as a foreign advisor by the Meiji government of the Emp ...

* Oskar Löw, agronomist *

William Penn Brooks William Penn Brooks (November 19, 1851 – March 8, 1938) was an American agricultural scientist, who worked as a foreign advisor in Meiji period Japan during the colonization project for Hokkaidō. He was the eighth president of the Massachusett ...

, agronomist

Medical science

* Erwin von Bälz * Johannes Ludwig Janson *

Heinrich Botho Scheube Heinrich Botho Scheube (August 18, 1853 – 4 March 1923) was a German physician born in Zeitz. In 1876 he earned his doctorate from the University of Leipzig, and following graduation remained in Leipzig as an assistant in Carl Reinhold Augu ...

Julius Scriba Julius Karl Scriba (5 June 1848 – 3 January 1905) was a German surgeon serving as a foreign advisor in Meiji period Japan, where he was an important contributor to the development of Western medicine in Japan. Biography Scriba was born in Da ...

Law, administration, and economics

Georges Appert Georges Appert (1850–1934) was a French historian, academic, writer and Japanologist. He was a legal scholar and professor of law at the University of Tokyo.Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BnF)Appert, Georges (1850-1934) retrieved 2013-4-2. C ...

, legal scholar *

Gustave Emile Boissonade Gustave Émile Boissonade de Fontarabie (7 June 1825 – 27 June 1910) was a French legal scholar, responsible for drafting much of Japan's civil code during the Meiji Era, and honored as one of the founders of modern Japan's legal system. Bio ...

, legal scholar *

Hermann Roesler Carl Friedrich Hermann Roesler (18 December 1834 – 2 December 1894) was a German legal scholar, economist, and foreign advisor to the Meiji period Empire of Japan. Biography Early life Life in Japan In 1878, Roesler was invited by the gov ...

, jurist and economist * Georg Michaelis,"Georg Michaelis" at Archontology.org
retrieved 2013-4-4. jurist *

Albert Mosse Isaac Albert Mosse (1 October 1846 – 31 May 1925) was a German judge and legal scholar. Mosse's importance lies in his work on Japan's Meiji Constitution and his continuation of Litthauer's Comments on the German Commercial Code. Biography M ...

, jurist *

Otfried Nippold Otfried Nippold (May 21, 1864 – July 27, 1938) was a German–Swiss jurist, pacifist and internationalist. He was also an academic and a prolific author. Nippold was born in Wiesbaden, Germany as the son of Professor Friedrich Nippold of the U ...

, jurist *

Heinrich Waentig Heinrich Eugen Waentig (21 March 1870 – 22 December 1943) was a German economist and politician. Waentig was born in Zwickau, Saxony. From 1888 to 1893, he studied at University of Munich, University of Berlin, University of Leipzig, and Unive ...

, economist and jurist *

Georges Hilaire Bousquet Georges Hilaire Bousquet (March 3, 1845 – January 15, 1937) was a French legal scholar who contributed to the development of the legal codes of the Empire of Japan. Biography Bousquet was born in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. He wa ...

, legal scholar * Horatio Nelson Lay, railway developer *

Alexander Allan Shand Alexander Allan Shand (11 February 1844 - 12 April 1930) was a British banker most known for his work in the development of accountacy and early proposal of a central bank in the Japanese banking system during the meiji period. Early life Shand ...

, monetary *

Henry Willard Denison Henry Willard Denison (May 11, 1846 – July 3, 1914) was an American diplomat and lawyer, active in Meiji period Japan. Biography Denison was born in Guildhall, Vermont, and spent his early years at Lancaster, New Hampshire. He was a graduate ...

, diplomat * Karl Rathgen, economist

Military

* Jules Brunet, artillery officer * Léonce Verny, constructor of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal * Klemens Wilhelm Jakob Meckel, Army instructor * Carl Köppen, Army instructor *

James R. Wasson James Robert Wasson (1847–1923) was a U.S. Army officer hired by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor and later as officer in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. He is noted as the first non-Japanese to be honored ...

, Civil engineer and teacher, army engineer *

Douglas R. Cassel Lieutenant Commander Douglas R. Cassel was a United States Naval Officer and veteran of the American Civil War known for his service to Meiji Japan's armed forces. Early life and career Douglas Cassel was born in October 1845 Zanesville, Ohio, ...

, Naval instructor *

Henry Walton Grinnell Henry Walton Grinnell (November 19, 1843 – September 2, 1920), known as Walton Grinnell, was a naval veteran of the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War. He became a rear admiral and Inspector-General in the Imperial Japanese Navy and ...

, Navy instructor * José Luis Ceacero Inguanzo, Navy instructor *

Charles Dickinson West Charles Dickinson West (January 1847 – 10 January 1908) was an Irish mechanical engineer and naval architect, who worked for many years at the Imperial College of Engineering, in Meiji era Japan. Biography West was born in Dublin, Ireland as ...

, naval architect *

Henry Spencer Palmer Major General Henry Spencer Palmer (30 April 1838 – 10 February 1893) was a British Army military engineer and surveyor, noted for his work in developing Yokohama harbor in the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor to the Japanese government B ...

, military engineer *

Archibald Lucius Douglas Admiral Sir Archibald Lucius Douglas, (8 February 1842 – 12 March 1913) was a Royal Navy officer of the 19th century. Naval career Douglas was born in Quebec City in pre-Confederation Canada in 1842. Educated at the Quebec High School, he joi ...

, Naval instructor

Natural science and mathematics

* William Edward Ayrton, physicist * Edward Divers, chemist *

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (October 4, 1841 – March 23, 1924) was an American autodidact physicist and meteorologist. He was the first professor hired at Ohio State University in 1873 and the superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey ...

, physicist * Edward S. Morse, zoologist *

Charles Otis Whitman Charles Otis Whitman (December 6, 1842 – December 14, 1910) was an American zoologist, who was influential to the founding of classical ethology (study of animal behavior). A dedicated educator who preferred to teach a few research students at ...

, zoologist, successor of Edward S. Morse *

Heinrich Edmund Naumann Heinrich Edmund Naumann (September 11, 1854 – February 1, 1927) was a German geologist, regarded as the "father of Japanese geology" in Meiji period Japan. Biography Heinrich Edmund Naumann was hired by the Meiji government in 1875 as a fo ...

, geologist * Curt Netto, metallurgist * Sir

James Alfred Ewing Sir James Alfred Ewing MInstitCE (27 March 1855 − 7 January 1935) was a Scottish physicist and engineer, best known for his work on the magnetic properties of metals and, in particular, for his discovery of, and coinage of the word, '' h ...

, physicist and engineer who founded Japanese

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

* Cargill Gilston Knott, succeeding J.A. Ewing *

Benjamin Smith Lyman Benjamin Smith Lyman (11 December 1835 – 30 August 1920) was an American mining engineer, surveyor, and an amateur linguist and anthropologist. Biography Benjamin Smith Lyman was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard Uni ...

, mining engineer

Engineering

* William P. Brooks, agriculture *

, builder of lighthouses * Charles Alfred Chastel de Boinville, architect * Josiah Conder, architect * William Kinnimond Burton, engineering, architecture, photography *

Horace Capron Horace Capron (August 31, 1804 – February 22, 1885) was an American businessman and agriculturalist, a founder of Laurel, Maryland, a Union officer in the American Civil War, the United States Secretary of Agriculture under U.S. Presiden ...

, agriculture, road construction *

Henry Dyer Henry Dyer (23 August 1848 – 25 September 1918) was a Scottish engineer who contributed much to founding Western-style technical education in Japan and Scottish-Japanese relations. Early life Henry Dyer was born on 16 August 1848, ...

, engineering education *

Hermann Ende Hermann Gustav Louis Ende (4 March 1829 – 10 August 1907) was a German architect noted for his work in Germany, Japan and elsewhere. Biography Ende was born in Landsberg an der Warthe, Prussia (modern-day Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland ...

, architect * François Perregaux, mechanical watchmaker *

Albert Favre Zanuti Albert Favre Zanuti was a Swiss-Italian watchmaker and entrepreneur, instrumental in the development of the watchmaking industry in Japan in the 1880s as a O-yatoi Gaikokujin. Career overview Albert Zanuti was one of the first watchmakers to ...

, mechanical watchmaker * George Arnold Escher, civil engineer *

John G.H. Godfrey John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, geologist, mining engineer *

John Milne John Milne (30 December 1850 – 31 July 1913) was a British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph. Biography Milne was born in Liverpool, England, the only child of John Milne of Milnrow, and at first raised in ...

, geologist, seismologist * Colin Alexander McVean, civil engineer * Edmund Morel, civil engineer *

Johannis de Rijke Johannis de Rijke (December 5, 1842 – January 20, 1913) was a Dutch civil engineer and a foreign advisor to the Japanese government in Meiji period Japan. Early life De Rijke was born in Colijnsplaat on the island Noord-Beveland. Rijsbergen, ...

, civil engineer, flood control, river projects * John Alexander Low Waddell, bridge engineer * Thomas James Waters, civil engineer *

William Gowland William Gowland FRAI (16 December 1842 – 9 June 1922) was an English mining engineer who carried out archaeological work at Stonehenge and in Japan. He has been called the "Father of Japanese Archaeology". Biography Gowland was born in Sunde ...

, mining engineer, archaeologist *

James Favre-Brandt James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, mechanical watchmaker *

Jean Francisque Coignet Jean Francisque Coignet (1835 – 18 June 1902) was a French mining engineer and government advisor in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan noted for his modernization of the Ikuno Silver Mine at Ikuno, Hyōgo Prefecture, near Kobe. Biogra ...

, mining engineer *

Henry Scharbau Henry Scharbau (1822-1902) or ''Henry Sharbau'' was a British cartographer remembered for his work as an Oyatoi in the Meiji period. Biography Scharbau was born at Lübeck in North Germany in 1822, but came to England in his youth. Due to his ...

, cartographer *

Wilhelm Böckmann Wilhelm Böckmann (29 January 1832 – 22 October 1902) was a Germans, German architect who worked briefly as a oyatoi gaikokujin, foreign advisor to the government of Meiji period Japan. Early career Böckmann was born in Elberfeld, near ...

, architect * Anthonie Rouwenhorst Mulder, civil engineer, rivers and ports

Art and music

Edoardo Chiossone Edoardo Chiossone (January 21, 1833 – April 11, 1898) was an Italian engraver and painter, noted for his work as a foreign advisor to Meiji period Japan, and for his collection of Japanese art. He designed the first Japanese bank notes. Biogra ...

- engraver *

Luther Whiting Mason Luther Whiting Mason (3 April 1818 – 14 July 1896) was an American music educator who was hired by the Meiji period government of Japan as a foreign advisor to introduce Western classical music into the Japanese educational curriculum. Biogra ...

, musician * Ernest Fenollosa, art critic * Franz Eckert, musician * Rudolf Dittrich, musician *

Antonio Fontanesi Antonio Fontanesi (23 February 1818 – 17 April 1882) was an Italian painter who lived in Meiji period Japan between 1876 and 1878. He introduced European oil painting techniques to Japan, and exerted a significant role in the development of mo ...

, oil painter *

Vincenzo Ragusa Vincenzo Ragusa (8 July 1841 – 13 March 1927) was an Italian sculptor who lived in Meiji period Japan from 1876–1882. He introduced European techniques in bronze casting, and new methods of modeling in wood, clay, plaster and wire arm ...

, sculptor * John William Fenton, musician

Liberal arts, humanities and education

Alice Mabel Bacon Alice Mabel Bacon (February 26, 1858 – May 1, 1918) was an American writer, women's educator and a foreign advisor to the Japanese government in Meiji period Japan. Early life Alice Mabel Bacon was the youngest of the three daughters and ...

, pedagoge *

Basil Hall Chamberlain Basil Hall Chamberlain (18 October 1850 – 15 February 1935) was a British academic and Japanologist. He was a professor of the Japanese language at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during th ...

, Japanologist and Professor of Japanese *

James Summers James Summers (5 July 1828 – 26 October 1891) was a British scholar of English literature, hired by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to establish an English language curriculum at the ''Kaisei Gakuin'' (the forerunner of Tokyo ...

, English literature *

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

, Japanologist *

Viktor Holtz Viktor Holtz (3 May 1846 – 3 September 1919) was a German educator and a pioneer of German-Japanese academic and cultural relations. Early life Holtz was born in Stolberg, Kingdom of Prussia, and studied, from 1865 to 1867, at the Royal Cath ...

, educator *

Raphael von Koeber Raphael von Koeber (russian: Рафаэль Густавович фон Кёбер, translit=Rafaèl' Gustavovič fon Këber; - 14 June 1923) was a notable Russian-German teacher of philosophy and musician at the Tokyo Imperial University in Jap ...

, philosopher and musician *

Ludwig Riess Ludwig Riess (1 December 1861 – 27 December 1928) was a Germany, German-born historian and educator, noted for his work in late 19th century Japan. Biography Riess was born in Wałcz, Deutsch-Krone, Province of Prussia, Prussia (present-day W ...

, historian *

Leroy Lansing Janes Leroy Lansing Janes (1838–1909) was an American educator, hired by Kumamoto Domain in early Meiji period Japan. A native of Ohio, Janes was a veteran of the Civil War, where he served in the artillery with the rank of captain after graduatio ...

, educator, missionary * Marion McCarrell Scott, educator *

Edward Bramwell Clarke Edward Bramwell Clarke (31 January 1874 – 28 April 1934) was an educator in Meiji period Japan, who is credited with introducing the sport of rugby to Japan. Early life Clarke was born at the treaty port of Yokohama, the son of a baker. He gr ...

, educator * David Murray, educator

Missionary activities

* William Elliot Griffis, clergyman, author *

Guido Verbeck Guido Herman Fridolin Verbeck (born Verbeek) (23 January 1830 – 10 March 1898) was a Dutch political advisor, educator, and missionary active in ''Bakumatsu'' and Meiji period Japan. He was one of the most important foreign advisors serving th ...

, missionary, pedagoge * Horace Wilson, missionary and teacher credited with introducing

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

to Japan

Others

* Francis Brinkley, journalist *

Ottmar von Mohl Ottmar von Mohl (17 January 1846 – 23 March 1922) was a German diplomat and government advisor in Meiji period Japan. Ottmar von Mohl, born in Tübingen, Germany was the son of famous jurist Robert von Mohl. He studied law at the Univers ...

, court protocol

References

External links

Dentsu Advertising Museum/Meiji Era

The impact of the O-Yatoi Gaikokujin during the Meiji Era

Tokyo University of Education 120th Anniversary Memorial Tokyo University Show
(in Japanese) {{Authority control F F