Chronology of Royal and Imperial Visits 1868—2018

INTRODUCTION

DURING THE FIRST half of the twentieth century the royal relationship between the British Empire and Impenal Japan played an important part in the link between these two countnes. Indeed, after the collapse of the Romanov, the Hohenzollem and Hapsburg empires in 1917—1918, it would not be too farfetched as to describe it as the most significant royal relationship that remained in existence. To look at why this royal relationship became so important to both powers provides us with a useful way in which to understand the evolution of Anglo-Japanese relations, but it also helps us to comprehend more broadly the special role that royalty continued to play in the twentieth century and the need to take court diplomacy seriously.

As the previous chapter in this volume has demonstrated, the royal relationship between Bntain and Japan had provided some useful contacts in the late nineteenth century but it had never become particularly close. The most important symbol of the distance that remained between the two courts was that it had not been possible to achieve a mutual exchange of decorations between the monarchs. This was because the Bntish government was loath from the mid-1870s onwards to bestow the Order of the Garter on non-Chnstians, while the Japanese were determined not to accept any lower chivalnc honour. It is important, though, to put this problem in context by emphasizing that Japan was far from alone in being treated as an inferior. Its position in 1900 was in fact very similar to that of the other non-Chnstian empires and kingdoms, such as the Ottoman Empire, Persia (Iran), and Siam (Thailand), which had all tried to adapt to European court diplomacy but still found themselves treated as second-rank monarchies. The only exception to this rule was Qmg China which had only avoided similar humiliation because it had done very little to create any ties between the Manchu court and its foreign counterparts.

The patronizing treatment that the Japanese court had received at the hands of Bntain meant that by the 1890s the former had developed a great sensitivity where royal relations were concerned. For example, in 1897 the Japanese had only agreed to send a representative to the queen's diamond jubilee once Bntain had guaranteed that their pnnce would be given the same treatment as European royalty.

From the middle of the nineteenth century until today one of the myriad issues that has regularly crossed the desk of the secretary of state for foreign affairs is how to handle British relations with Japan. This relationship has taken on many facets; it has sometimes been close, most notably in the years of the Anglo-Japanese alliance between 1902 and 1922, but it has also had periods of hostility, reaching its peak during the Pacific War and its bitter aftermath. Sometimes, in its moments of high drama, it has warranted constant ministerial attention, but there have also been periods when its management has been left to the permanent officials in the Far Eastern Department of the Foreign Office and the legation/embassy in Tokyo and has rarely reached the foreign secretary's red box. It is also a relationship in which the key issues have changed over the years. Often it has been primarily a commercial relationship but there have also been periods in which it has taken on great strategic significance. This then is a relationship that has ebbed and flowed over the past century and a half perhaps to a greater degree than most.

In providing an overview to a volume which looks at how British foreign secretaries have interacted with the Japanese government over a period of one hundred and seventy years, it is important before surveying the chronology of events to make some general remarks about the constant and the variable factors in the Anglo-Japanese relationship, as observations about the broad context can help to make sense of the story. Some of the comments that follow may seem obvious, but that very fact is why they tend to be overlooked.

The first thing to point out is that the varied nature of Anglo-Japanese relations is a simple reflection of geography; after all, the home islands of these two countries are very far apart. In the age of high imperialism this aspect was mitigated by the fact that Britain possessed Asian colonies and had extensive trading interests in China. At this point, Britain's territorial stake in Asia clearly meant that the question of whether Japan was a friend or an enemy had considerable significance; although even then, it should be noted, that it was never easy to extend British power as far as the West Pacific.