Ian Patrick Austin - Ulysses S. Grant and Meiji Japan, 1869-1885: Diplomacy, Strategic Thought and the Economic Context of US-Japan Relations

Ulysses S. Grant, besides being the General-in-Chief of the Union armies at the time of the Union victory in the American Civil War, was also President, 18691878, at a time when the United States was undergoing significant transformations, both economically and strategically, and growing in confidence as a world power. At the same time, Japan, following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, was seeking to join the ranks of the developed, read exclusively Western, states. This book explores the interaction of Grant with Meiji Japan, compares and contrasts developments in the two countries and assesses the impact each country had on the other. It discusses the travels of the Iwakura Mission in the United States, considers Grants 1879 visit to Japan and examines the personal relationship between Grant, the Meiji emperor and the other leaders of the Meiji government. The book argues that Grants thoughtful consideration of the key issues of the day, issues common to many countries at the time, and his suggested policy responses had a huge impact on Meiji Japan.

Ian Patrick Austin is a Senior Lecturer in International Business at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.

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Diplomacy, Strategic Thought and the Economic Context of USJapan Relations

Ian Patrick Austin

First published 2019

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2019 Ian Patrick Austin

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Austin, Ian Patrick, author.

Title: Ulysses S. Grant and Meiji Japan, 186985 : diplomacy, strategic thought and the economic context of USJapan relations / Ian Patrick Austin.

Description: London ; New York : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2019016098 (print) | LCCN 2019017324 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429275104 (Ebook) | ISBN 9781000021929 (Adobe Reader) | ISBN 9781000022155 ( Mobipocket) | ISBN 9781000022384 (ePub3) | ISBN 9780367224813 (hardback)

Subjects: LCSH: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 18221885TravelJapan. | Iwakura Shisetsudan (Japan) | United States Foreign relationsJapan. | JapanForeign relationsUnited States. | United StatesForeign relations19th century. | JapanForeign relations19th century.

Classification: LCC E183.8.J3 (ebook) | LCC E183.8.J3 A928 2019 (print) | DDC 327.7305209/04dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019016098

ISBN: 978-0-367-22481-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-27510-4 (ebk)

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by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

This book is dedicated to two of the finest economic historian scholars it has been my privilege to know and share thoughts with over the last decade or more.

Richard E. Sylla

Professor Emeritus of Economics and the former Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets at New York University Stern School of Business.

and

Kenichi Tomobe

Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo.

Spelling:

Within this work, the United States spelling has been utilized except in the case of quotations and original author use.

Ian Patrick Austin is an Australian-American researcher on American and East Asian political economy and currently works for Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia as a scholar in the field of international business. He is the author, co-author and editor of several works on American, Australian and Asian affairs; and this study is directly related to two previous endeavors: Pragmatism and Public Policy in East Asia: Origins, Adaptations and Developments (2001) and Common Foundation of American and East Asian Modernisation: from Alexander Hamilton to Junichiro Koizumi (2009). Ian has worked for Australian and Singaporean governments and tertiary institutions researching and lecturing in areas international political economy, international business and comparative management. He has also worked in international business focusing on consultancy and events management, marketing and logistics. Finally, Ian continues to work actively in Australian politics and public policy, with a focus on Australias relations with Asia.

This work examines the personal relations and international contexts of the relationship between Ulysses S. Grant (18221885) and the Meiji governing elite (18681912) of Japan, not the least the young Emperor Mutsuhito (18521912). As the opening quotation of this work by Keene (2002) makes clear, Grant would leave a most significant personal and policy impression upon the Meiji Emperor of Japan, and this applied equally of his inner governing circle (including the seminal Meiji figure Ito Hirobumi [18411909], whose constitutional work has been examined within the Routledge Modern Asian History of Asia Series). The study examines the dynamics of the GrantMeiji relationship through: the series of interactions in Washington D.C. between President Grant and the men of the Iwakura Embassy in 1872, and between Grant and the core leadership of Meiji regime in TokyoYokohama in 1879 (with Iwakura Tomomi [18251883] and Ito Hirobumi being the most prominent Meiji figures across both exchanges). It then examines Grants visit to Japan in that year (1879) in what would be not only the last, but the longest time-in-country visit (June 21September 3, 1879, 74 days), of his and his wife Julias two-plus-year journey around the world. In 1879, Grant engaged with the Meiji regime in a series of groundbreaking dialogues with the Emperor himself, the complete upper echelons of the governing and military elite of the regime, and in equally groundbreaking international diplomacy as a neutral arbiter of a regional territorial dispute between Japan and China. Finally, the study concludes by examining the post-tour years of his life (18791885), when Grant showed a deep and continuing interest in working toward developing Americas diplomatic and trading engagement with not only Japan, but also with China and greater Asia, and these overtures were reciprocated in the soft-diplomacy actions of the Meiji regime as Grant fought his ultimate final battle.