Terashima Munenori

Terashima Munenori
Count Terashima Munenori
Born	June 21, 1832(1832-06-21) Akune, Kagoshima, Japan
Died	June 21, 1893(1893-06-21) (aged 61)
Nationality	Japan
Occupation	Politician, Diplomat

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Terashima".

Count Terashima Munenori (寺島 宗則^?, June 21, 1832 – June 6, 1893) was a diplomat in Meiji period Japan.

Early life

Terashima was born to a samurai family in Satsuma domain (in what is now part of Akune city, Kagoshima prefecture). He studied rangaku and was appointed as a physician to Satsuma daimyō Shimazu Nariakira. In 1862, he was chosen as a member of the group of students selected by the Tokugawa bakufu to study at the University College London in Great Britain. He also visited France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia and Portugal. He returned to Japan in 1863, and participated in the defense of Satsuma during the Anglo-Satsuma War.

Meiji bureaucrat

After the Meiji Restoration, Terashima was appointed a san'yo (junior councilor) in the new Meiji government. In 1873, he was appointed foreign minister, and negotiated the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), which fixed the national boundaries between Japan and the Russian Empire. His efforts to re-negotiate the unequal treaties with the United States failed at the last minute due to British opposition. Terashima was also responsible for the negotiations during the Maria Luz Incident involving a Peruvian ship carrying indentured labor Chinese laborers stopping in Japan.

As Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, he was responsible for connecting Tokyo and Yokohama by telegraph in 1868.

He later served in the Genrōin, and in 1891, he became vice president of the Privy Council.

References

• Auslin, Michael R. (2004). Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0674015215; 13-ISBN 9780674015210; OCLC 56493769
• Cobbing, Andrew. The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 1998. ISBN 978-1-873410-81-3
• Jansen, Marius B. (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0674003349/13-ISBN 9780674003347; OCLC 44090600
• Keene, Donald. (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912. New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-12340-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-12340-2; OCLC 46731178

See also

• Japanese students in the United Kingdom

Persondata
Name	Terashima, Munenori
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 21, 1832
Place of birth	Akune, Kagoshima, Japan
Date of death	June 21, 1893
Place of death