The Nagasaki foreign settlement (長崎居留地), sometimes called the Oura foreign settlement (大浦居留地), was an area in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, Japan, settled by foreigners as Japan opened its doors to Western trade. The area was established by treaties between the West and Japan in the mid-to-late 1850s, and remained an important center of Western life in Japan until the outbreak of World War II. This settlement saw many firsts for Japan, including the first international telegraph and also the first use of a steam locomotive, the "Iron Duke," on a short track in the Oura district. Nagasaki holds a festival in mid-September that focuses on the foreign settlement.

Development

A series of encounters between the West and Japan in the 1850s ended Japan's isolationist trade policies. In particular, the treaty with Russia, signed on February 7, 1855 established Nagasaki as an open port and, further, granted

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 ...

privileges to foreigners living in Japan. These encounters finally culminated in 1859 when the

Ansei Treaties The Ansei Treaties (Japanese:安政条約) or the Ansei Five-Power Treaties (Japanese:安政五カ国条約) are a series of treaties signed in 1858, during the Japanese Ansei era, between Japan on the one side, and the United States, Great Bri ...

, and in particular the

Harris Treaty Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...

with the United States, took effect. These treaties demanded immediate opening of ports, and also established generally unequal trade relationships between the Western powers and Japan. In 1860 development of the area around Oura Creek began; by August 15, 1862, Japanese officials ordered foreign residents of Nagasaki into this new settlement area.

Decline and dismantling

By 1894, the treaties that led to the formation of the foreign settlement had been abolished, and new ones became effective in 1899. On that date, the foreign settlement returned fully to Japanese control. Tariffs returned to Japanese after the treaty with the United States, signed on February 21, 1911. Despite these political changes, the momentum established in the previous decades continued, and this area of Nagasaki continued to be an important hub of trade and settlement for Westerners. In the run up to World War II, however, the foreign population of the settlement declined, so that few were left as hostilities broke out.

Notable residents

Thomas Blake Glover Thomas Blake Glover (6 June 1838 – 16 December 1911) was a Scottish merchant in the Bakumatsu and Meiji period in Japan. Early life (1838–1858) Thomas Blake Glover was born at 15 Commerce Street, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire (council area), ...

– Scottish merchant

Notes

References

* * * {{citation, last1=Reischauer, first1=Edwin O., title=Japan: Tradition & Transformation, year=1978, publisher=Houghton Mifflin, isbn=0-395-25814-6, first2=Albert M. , last2=Craig

Development

Decline and dismantling

Notable residents

See also

Notes

References

Further reading