The signed by Britain and Japan, on 16 July 1894, was a breakthrough agreement; it heralded the end of the unequal treaties and the system of extraterritoriality in Japan. The treaty came into force on 17 July 1899.
From that date British subjects in Japan were subject to Japanese laws instead of British laws. The jurisdiction of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan, the British Court for Japan under it and consular courts in each treaty port ceased on that date, save for pending cases which were allowed to continue. British subjects from that date became subject to the jurisdiction of Japanese courts.
Background
In February 1853 Russia discovered that a US fleet led by Commodore Matthew Perry was to leave Norfolk for Japan. Tsar Alexander II then organized an expedition and entrusted its command to Admiral Yevfimiy Putyatin. The Russian delegation arrived in Nagasaki on 12 August 1853, a month after the Americans, and began a series of negotiations that would lead to the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda with the Tokugawa Shogunate on 7 February 1855.
The American and Russian maneuvers however had not gone unnoticed. During a parliamentary question on 23 June 1854, Lord John Russell stated that the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Bowring, had been ordered to keep a close eye on Commodore Perry's activities in Japan. Commander of the East Indies and China Station James Stirling, however, did not consider such an initiative a priority at the time.
The outbreak of the Crimean War forced the British to review the project. Admiral Stirling was commissioned to capture or sink the Tsar's Pacific Fleet. The Admiralty made it a priority to prevent the Russians from using Japanese ports, but Stirling thought this was an excellent opportunity to make an agreement with the Land of the Rising Sun. When he arrived in the port of Nagasaki on 7 November 1854, he took the opportunity to enter into negotiations with the Japanese authorities. The negotiations mainly concerned war matters and regulated naval traffic in Japanese waters for the duration of the conflict, in effect almost closing the country again to foreign vessels.
On 14 October 1854, the Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty was signed, an agreement that did not, however, grant any obvious commercial advantages to the British.
Lord Elgin mission
The 1854 Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Friendship received mixed opinions at home. The Foreign Office praised Admiral Stirling's work, and Grand Admiral James Graham himself paid tribute to him in Parliament, but the greatest criticism came from British citizens living in China, who hoped to intensify their business with the Japanese country. Subsequent British expeditions made it clear, however, that the agreements had granted considerable advantages to the Shogunate. The Japanese authorities wanted to control foreign trade and any transition had to take place under their supervision.
In August 1855 the Foreign Secretary Lord Clarendon entrusted Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, with the task of claiming more significant commercial advantages for Britain in Japan. Still, the outbreak of the Second Opium War in China and the Sepoys' revolt in India forced Britain to concentrate its forces in these regions, delaying any possible action in the Rising Sun.
The war in China ended with the Treaty of Tientsin, signed for Britain by James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin. After signing the treaty with China, he was sent to Japan with a small fleet. His mission included the delivery of the steamship Emperor to the Shogun as a gift from Queen Victoria and the renegotiation of the previous treaty.
Yet subsequent negotiations highlighted the internal divisions within the Shogunate and the hostility of many Daimyo towards Westerners.
The new Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed in Edo on 26 August 1858. The concordat allowed foreign diplomats access to the interior of the country and enshrined the right of extraterritoriality. This stipulated that all British citizens who committed crimes against Japanese subjects or those of any other country were to be judged by consuls or other designated authorities under the laws of Great Britain.
The Internal Tension
The signing of the treaty was met with hostility from the Japanese people, who were opposed to the extension of foreign trade. The Japanese and British authorities found themselves unable to control their fellow citizens. Sailors, often drunkards and outsiders periodically harassed the natives while samurai aggression against westerners was increasing. The civilized population developed a real hatred for the foreigners and fervently wanted them removed.