Topic 58 – The struggle to revise the unequal treaties
58ー条約改正への苦闘
What strategies did Japan employ in order to renegotiate the unequal treaties signed with the Western powers during the final years of the shogunate?
幕末に欧米諸国と結んだ不平等条約を、日本はどのように改正しようとしたのだろうか。
The problem of the unequal treaties
不平等条約の問題点
The treaties that the shogunate signed with the Western powers in its final years were humiliating to the Japanese people due to the unequal terms they forced upon Japan. Firstly, any foreign national who committed a crime against a Japanese person was tried, not in a Japanese court, but in a consular court set up by the nation of the accused criminal.1 Secondly, Japan lost the right, just as many other Asian countries had, to set its own import tariffs. The Japanese people of the Meiji period yearned to end this legal discrimination imposed by the Western powers, and revision of the unequal treaties became Japan’s foremost diplomatic priority.
*1=The exclusive right held by foreign countries to try their own citizens in consular courts for crimes committed against Japanese people was referred to as the right of consular jurisdiction, which was a form of extraterritoriality.
幕末に日本が欧米諸国と結んだ条約は、日本人の誇りを傷つける不平等条約だった。第一に、日本人に対して罪を犯した外国人を裁く権利は、日本の裁判所にはなく、相手国の領事裁判所にあった（領事裁判権）。第二に、他のアジア諸国と同様、関税自主権を日本に与えていなかった。欧米諸国との法的な差別を解消する条約改正は、明治の日本人の悲願であり、日本外交最大の課題となった。
*1=外国人が犯罪を行なったとき、その外国の領事が犯罪者を裁判にかける権利を領事裁判権という。治外法権の一つである。
In 1872 (Meiji 5), the Iwakura Mission attempted to discuss the revision of the unequal treaties with the United States, but was rebuffed on the grounds that Japan had not reformed its legal system, particularly its criminal law.
1872（明治5）年、岩倉使節団はアメリカとの間で条約改正の予備交渉を行おうとした。しかし、刑法などの法律が整備されていないことを理由に、相手にされなかった。
For this reason, Japan set aside the issue of consular jurisdiction and made recovery of its tariff autonomy the focal point of its bid to revise the unequal treaties. Though the United States agreed to this, the ensuing negotiations ultimately failed due to the opposition of Great Britain and France. However, in 1877 (Meiji 10), a group of British merchants were caught smuggling the narcotic opium into Japan and were arraigned before a consular court. The British consul ruled that their deeds were not treaty violations, as the opium was being imported for medicinal purposes. This unjust decision outraged the people of Japan and convinced the Meiji Government to switch the emphasis of the negotiations back to the abolition of consular jurisdiction.
そこで日本は、関税自主権の回復に条約改正の重点を置いて各国と交渉した。アメリカは日本に同意したが、イギリスとフランスが反対し、交渉は失敗に終わった。1877（明治10年）、イギリス商人が麻薬のアヘンを密輸する事件があった。イギリスは領事裁判権を行使し、アヘンは薬として輸入したのだから条約違反ではないとの判決を下した。判決の不公平は日本人を怒らせた。日本は領事裁判権の撤廃要求に交渉の重点を切りかけた。
