Sales Room at Foreign Trade Building Yokohama MET DP147653

A foreign settlement (, pronounced "Gaikokujin kyoryūchi") was a special area in a treaty port, designated by the

Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

in the second half of the nineteenth century, to allow foreigners to live and work. After the visits of Commodore Perry in 1853 and 1854, Japan entered a period of rapid social and economic transition from a closed, feudalistic society to a more open, modern trading nation state. Japan first opened two ports to allow foreign trade, Shimoda and

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

after the signing the

Convention of Kanagawa The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the or the , was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March 31, 1854. Unequal treaty#Japan, Signed under threat of force, it effectively meant the end of Japan's 220-ye ...

with the United States in 1854. It then designated five more treaty ports in 1858 with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce.,

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, and Niigata. Trade agreements signed with the United States were swiftly followed by similar ones with Britain, the Netherlands, Russia and France. The ports permitted legal

extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality or exterritoriality 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 jurisdict ...

for citizens of the treaty nations. Before the system of treaty port concessions ended in 1899 seven foreign settlements had been established in Japan. They were, from north to south: * Hakodate foreign settlement in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

* Niigata foreign settlement in

Niigata, Niigata is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (). It is the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is ...

* Tsukiji foreign settlement in

Tsukiji Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 193 ...

, Chūō-ku,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

* Yokohama foreign settlement in the

Kannai is a district in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, bounded by the Ōoka River, JR Negishi Line, Nakamura River, and Yokohama waterfront. "Kannai" is not an official name of the area, but the common term of reference has been in use for over a century ...

and Yamate districts of Naka-ku,

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

* Kawaguchi foreign settlement in Kawaguchi, Nishi-ku,

Eric Johnston
Lessons learned from the failure of the Osaka Foreign Settlement
''The Japan Times'' (2017/8/19) *

Kobe foreign settlement The , also known as the Kobe foreign concession, was a foreign settlement (Japan), foreign settlement located about 3.5 kilometers east of the Port of Kobe, in the future Chūō-ku, Kobe, Chūō-ku of Kobe, Japan. Established based on the Ansei T ...

, Hyōgo * Nagasaki foreign settlement in Oura,

References

{{reflist

External links

Yokohama foreign settlement

-

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

19th century in Japan Bakumatsu Meiji Restoration 1850s establishments in Japan 1899 disestablishments in Japan

See also

References

External links