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The foreign employees in Meiji Japan, known in
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
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, la ...
: ,
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 extensi ...
: , "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, ...
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''. 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 and fauna and the introduction of Western medicine in Japan. He w ...
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 ...
, French naval engineer François Léonce Verny for
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate government established the ...
, 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 ...
. 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 The Imperial College of Engineering (工部大学校, ''Kōbudaigakkō'') was a Japanese institution of higher education that was founded during the Meiji Era. The college was established under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Works for ...
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. 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 cl ...
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 ...
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 l ...
.


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, Massach ...
*
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 agri ...
*
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 ...
*
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 Em ...
* 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 Massachus ...
, agronomist


Medical science

* Erwin von Bälz * Johannes Ludwig Janson * Heinrich Botho Scheube * Julius Scriba


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, jurist and economist *
Georg Michaelis Georg Michaelis (8 September 1857 – 24 July 1936) was the chancellor of the German Empire for a few months in 1917. He was the first (and the only one of the German Empire) chancellor not of noble birth to hold the office. With an economic ba ...
,"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, 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 U ...
, economist and jurist * Georges Hilaire Bousquet, legal scholar *
Horatio Nelson Lay Horatio Nelson Lay (23 January 1832 – 4 May 1898, Forest Hill, Kent, England) was a British diplomat, noted for his role in the ill-fated "Lay-Osborn Flotilla" during the Taiping Rebellion. Biography Early life Horatio Nelson Lay was born in ...
, railway developer * Alexander Allan 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 gradua ...
, diplomat *
Karl Rathgen Karl Rathgen (December 6, 1856, Weimar - November 4, 1921, Hamburg) was a German economist. He was the first Chancellor of the University of Hamburg. After studying in Strasbourg, Halle, Leipzig and Berlin, he passed the first state examination ...
, economist


Military

*
Jules Brunet Jules Brunet (2 January 1838 – 12 August 1911) was a French military officer who served the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War in Japan. Originally sent to Japan as an artillery instructor with the French military mission of 1867, he refu ...
, artillery officer *
Léonce Verny François Léonce Verny, (2 December 1837 – 2 May 1908) was a French officer and naval engineerSims, Richard. (1998) ''French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854-95: A Case of Misjudgement and Missed Opportunities,'' p. 246./ref> ...
, constructor of the
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate government established the ...
* Klemens Wilhelm Jakob Meckel, Army instructor * Carl Köppen, Army instructor * James R. Wasson, Civil engineer and teacher, army engineer * Douglas R. Cassel, Naval instructor * Henry Walton Grinnell, Navy instructor * José Luis Ceacero Inguanzo, Navy instructor * Charles Dickinson West, naval architect * Henry Spencer Palmer, 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 j ...
, Naval instructor


Natural science and mathematics

* William Edward Ayrton, physicist *
Edward Divers Edward Divers FRS (27 November 1837 – 8 April 1912) was a British experimental chemist who rose to prominence despite being visually impaired from young age. Between 1873 and 1899, Divers lived and worked in Japan and significantly contribute ...
, 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 Surv ...
, 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, geologist *
Curt Netto Curt Adolph Netto (August 21, 1847 – February 7, 1909) was a German metallurgist and educator. He is regarded as a precursor for the industrial utilization of aluminium. He was active in early Meiji period Japan. Biography Netto was born in ...
, 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, '' hy ...
, 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 Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...
, 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 William Penn Brooks (November 19, 1851 – March 8, 1938) was an American agricultural scientist, who worked as a oyatoi gaikokujin, foreign advisor in Meiji period Japan during the colonization project for Hokkaidō. He was the eighth president o ...
, agriculture *
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 ...
, builder of lighthouses * Charles Alfred Chastel de Boinville, architect * Josiah Conder, architect * William Kinnimond Burton, engineering, architecture, photography * Horace Capron, 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, Polan ...
, architect *
François Perregaux François Perregaux (1834 Le Locle, Switzerland – 1877, Yokohama, Japan) was a Swiss watchmaker and businessman. F. Perregaux was the first European Watchmaker to travel to Asia (1863) and is remembered for his contribution to establishing the ...
, 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, 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 i ...
, geologist, seismologist *
Colin Alexander McVean Colin Alexander McVean, FRGS (6 March 1838 – 18 January 1912) was a Scottish civil engineer who made a considerable contribution to Japan's engineering development in 1870s. He left two brief autobiographies, diaries, photos, letters and a co ...
, 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 Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell (January 15, 1854 – March 3, 1938, often shortened to J.A.L. Waddell and sometimes known as John Alexander Waddell) was a Canadian-American civil engineer and prolific bridge designer, with more than a thousa ...
, bridge engineer * Thomas James Waters, civil engineer * William Gowland, 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 (disambiguati ...
, mechanical watchmaker * Jean Francisque Coignet, mining engineer * Henry Scharbau, cartographer *
Wilhelm Böckmann Wilhelm Böckmann (29 January 1832 – 22 October 1902) was a German architect who worked briefly as a foreign advisor to the government of Meiji period Japan. Early career Böckmann was born in Elberfeld, near Wuppertal, Germany whe ...
, architect *
Anthonie Rouwenhorst Mulder Anthonie Rouwenhorst Mulder (28 April 1848 – 6 March 1901) was a Dutch engineer and foreign advisor specializing in hydraulic engineering in Meiji period Empire of Japan. Mulder was born in Leiden, Kingdom of the Netherlands as the son of a t ...
, civil engineer, rivers and ports


Art and music

* Edoardo Chiossone - 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. Biograp ...
, musician *
Ernest Fenollosa Ernest Francisco Fenollosa (February 18, 1853 – September 21, 1908) was an American art historian of Japanese art, professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University. An important educator during the modernization of Japa ...
, art critic *
Franz Eckert Franz Eckert (5 April 1852 – 6 August 1916) was a German composer and musician who composed the harmony for Japan's national anthem, "Kimigayo" and the national anthem of the Korean Empire, " Aegukga". Early life and education Eckert was ...
, 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 ar ...
, sculptor *
John William Fenton John William Fenton (12 March 1828 – 28 April 1890) was an Irish musician of Scottish descent and the leader of a military band in Japan at the start of the Meiji period. He is considered "the first bandmaster in Japan" and "the father of band ...
, 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 To ...
, English literature *
Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish- Greek- Japanese writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture a ...
, 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, philosopher and musician * Ludwig Riess, historian * Leroy Lansing Janes, educator, missionary *
Marion McCarrell Scott Marion McCarrell Scott (21 August 1843 - 23 May 1922) was an American educator and government advisor in Meiji period Japan. Biography Scott was born in Barren County, Kentucky, and graduated from the University of Virginia during the American Ci ...
, 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 g ...
, educator * David Murray, educator


Missionary activities

*
William Elliot Griffis William Elliot Griffis (September 17, 1843 – February 5, 1928) was an American orientalist, Congregational minister, lecturer, and prolific author.Brown, John Howard. (1904)."Griffis, William Elliot,"''The Twentieth Century Biographical Diction ...
, clergyman, author * Guido Verbeck, 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 t ...
to Japan


Others

*
Francis Brinkley Francis Brinkley (30 December 1841 – 12 October 1912) was an Anglo-Irish newspaper owner, editor and scholar who resided in Meiji period Japan for over 40 years, where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture, art and architect ...
, journalist * Ottmar von Mohl, court protocol


See also

* Foreign cemeteries in Japan *
Foreign relations of Japan The are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Japan maintains diplomatic relations with every United Nations member state except for North Korea, in addition to UN observer states Holy See, as well as Kosovo, Cook Island ...
**
France–Japan relations The history of relations between France and Japan goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Saint-Tropez and created a sensation. France and Japan have enjoyed a very ro ...
***
France–Japan relations (19th century) The development of France-Japan relations in the 19th century coincided with Japan's opening to the Western world, following two centuries of seclusion under the "Sakoku" system and France's expansionist policy in Asia. The two countries became ve ...
**
Germany–Japan relations Germany–Japan relations (; ), also referred to as German-Japanese relations, were officially established in 1861 with the first ambassadorial visit to Japan from Prussia (which predated the formation of the German Empire in 1866/1870). Japan ...
**
Italy–Japan relations Italy–Japan relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Italian Republic and Japan. Bilateral relations between Japan and Italy formally began on 25 August 1866, but the first contacts between the two countries date back at least ...
**
Japan–Portugal relations Japanese–Portugal relations describes the foreign relations between Japan and Portugal. Although Portuguese sailors visited Japan first in 1543, diplomatic relations started in the nineteenth century. History 16th century The first affili ...
** Japan–Netherlands relations **
Japan–United Kingdom relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between Japan and the United Kingdom. History The history of the relationship between Japan and England began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams (Adams the Pilot, ''Miura Anjin''), (the firs ...
**
Japan–United States relations International relations between Japan and the United States began in the late 18th and early 19th century with the diplomatic but Unequal treaty#Japan and Korea, force-backed missions of U.S. ship captains James Glynn and Matthew C. Perry to th ...
** Spain–Japan relations *
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 ...
* Russians in Japan


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