page_title: France–Japan relations
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: France–Japan relations / Chronology of Franco-Japanese relations / 19th century
context_page_description: The history of relations between France and Japan goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Saint-Tropez and created a sensation. France and Japan have enjoyed a very robust and progressive relationship spanning centuries through various contacts in each other's countries by senior representatives, strategic efforts, and cultural exchanges.
  After nearly two centuries of seclusion by "Sakoku" in Japan, the two countries became very important partners from the second half of the 19th century in the military, economic, legal and artistic fields. The Tokugawa shogunate modernized its army through the assistance of French military missions, and Japan later relied on France for several aspects of its modernization, particularly the development of a shipbuilding industry during the early years of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the development of a Legal code.
  France derived part of its modern artistic inspiration from Japanese art, essentially through Japonism and its influence on Impressionism, and almost completely relied on Japan for its prosperous silk industry.
context_section_description: 1808. The French language is taught to five Japanese translators by the Dutch chief of Dejima, Hendrik Doeff.
  1844. A French naval expedition under Captain Fornier-Duplan onboard Alcmène visits Okinawa on April 28, 1844. Trade is denied, but Father Forcade is left behind with a translator.
  1846. Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille arrives in Nagasaki, but is denied landing.
  1855. In an effort to find the Russian fleet in the Pacific Ocean during the Crimean War, a French-British naval force reaches the port of Hakodate, open to British ships as a result of the Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty of 1854, and sails further North, seizing the Russian-American Company's possessions on the island of Urup in the Kuril archipelago. The Treaty of Paris (1856) restitutes the island to Russia.
  1855. Following the opening of Japan by the American Commodore Perry, France obtains a treaty with Okinawa on November 24, 1855.
  1858. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and Japan is signed in Edo on October 9, 1858, by Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros, opening diplomatic relations between the two countries.
  1859. Arrival of Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt.
  1862. Shōgun Tokugawa Iemochi sends First Japanese Embassy to Europe, led by Takenouchi Yasunori.
  1863. Second Japanese Embassy to Europe
  1864. Arrival of Leon Roches in Japan.
  1864. Bombardment of Shimonoseki by allied ships (9 British, 3 French, 4 Dutch, 1 American).
  1864. In November Leonce Verny arrives in Japan for the construction of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.
  1865. Shibata Takenaka visits France to prepare for the construction of the Yokosuka arsenal and organize a French military mission to Japan.
  1865. On September 12, 1865, the Messageries Maritimes passenger liner ship Dupleix was the first to call at a Japanese port to start a new service with France, both for passengers as well as for cargoes such as Japanese silk.
  1867. The first French Military Mission to Japan arrives in Yokohama January 13, 1867. Among them is Captain Jules Brunet.
  1867. Japan sends a delegation to the 1867 World Fair in Paris.
  1867. The French mining engineer Jean Francisque Coignet is sent to Satsuma Domain and is put in charge of the silver mines of Ikuno in 1868.
  1868. Kobe incident (February 4). A fight erupts in Kobe between 450 samurai of Okayama Domain and French sailors, leading to the occupation of central Kobe by foreign troops.
  1868. Eleven French sailors from the Dupleix are killed in the Sakai incident, in Sakai, near Osaka, by southern rebel forces.
  1869. Former French advisors under Jules Brunet fight alongside the last Tokugawa shogunate loyalists of Enomoto Takeaki, against Imperial troops in the Battle of Hakodate.
  1870. Henri Pelegrin directs the construction of Japan's first gas-lighting system in the streets of Nihonbashi, Ginza and Yokohama.
  1872. Paul Brunat opens the first modern Japanese silk spinning factory at Tomioka. Three craftsmen from the Nishijin weaving district in Kyoto travel to Lyon. They travel back to Japan in 1873, importing a Jacquard loom.
  1872. Start of the second French Military Mission to Japan (1872-1880).
  1873. The legal expert Gustave Emile Boissonade arrives in Japan to help build a modern legal system.
  1874. The Second French Military Mission is sent to Japan, and builds the military school of Ichigaya, the start of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy.
  1882. The first tramways are introduced from France and start functioning at Asakusa, and between Shinbashi and Ueno.
  1884. Third French Military Mission to Japan (1884-1889).
  1886. The French naval engineer Emile Bertin starts a four years' stay in Japan to advise the government on how to reinforce the Imperial Japanese Navy with new modern ships, and directs the expansion and modernization of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and the design and initial construction of the new arsenals of Kure and Sasebo, thereby contributing to the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. He was special adviser to Emperor Mutsuhito for naval development and was awarded by the Japanese government with the titles of Takaku 
caption: The first French military mission to Japan in 1867. Jules Brunet in front, second from right.
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