Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy

In a compelling analysis of the interplay among assassinations, Western bombardment of Japanese cities and fertile cultural and intellectual exchange, Auslin offers a persuasive reading of the birth of modern Japan at the signing of the “unequal” commercial treaty with the U.S., and its struggle to determine its future relations with the world.

Table of Contents:
Contents Author’s Note Introduction 1 The Style and Substance of Treaty-Making 2 Negotiating Space: The Meaning of Yokohama 3 Negotiating Time: The Postponement Strategy 4 The Limits of Negotiation: Expulsion and Gunboats 5 New Horizons: Tariffs and Translations 6 Rethinking Negotiation: Moving toward Revision 7 Negotiating the Future: The Iwakura Mission in America and Britain Conclusion Appendix 1: Treaties of Friendship and Commerce Signed by the Tokugawa Bakufu andthe Meiji Government Appendix 2: Key Japanese and Western Diplomats Appendix 3: Treaty of Amity and Commerce between theUnited States and Japan, July 29, 1858 Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Index

About the Author :
Michael R. Auslin is Director of Japan Studies at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

Review :
Besides the merit of its specific subject, Auslin's succinct book in a more general sense provides a significant dismantling of historical and historiographical boundaries on a number of levels...Auslin is a capable writer; his analysis is astute, engaging and carefully crafted. -- Robert G. Kane Pacific Affairs Negotiating with Imperialism breaks new ground in the study of modern Japanese diplomatic history. In it, Michael R. Auslin presents a wealth of detail on Japanese foreign interactions between 1858 and 1872 when Japanese and Western diplomats carried out a series of hard-fought negotiations that defined Japan's place in a new global environment. Following the long tradition of diplomatic historians, Auslin grounds his work on a thorough reading of British, American, and Japanese archival materials, but he also offers a compelling interpretive framework based on the premise of an evolving Japanese "culture of diplomacy." -- M. William Steele Monumenta Nipponica Many studies have been published on the bothumatsu period, making it no longer easy for one scholar to discuss this entire span of time within a single conceptual framework. Negotiating with Imperialism blows some fresh air on to what had become the rather stagnant atmosphere of this intensely studied subject...It is the very clarity and persuasiveness of the book's perspectives on the issues and history that stimulate us to present such alternative interpretations. Without doubt, it will contribute to further enlivening the study of the opening of Japan. -- Iokibe Kaoru Social Service Japan Journal 20070401