Foreign Footsteps in Japan 異人たちの足跡

The concept behind this series is to go back in history, to the time before and after Commodore Perry’s black ships “nudged” Japan into opening her doors to the rest of the world in 1854.

Before the floodgates were open, only a handful of visitors were able to enter Japan.

But after that, people from all over the globe came to Japan to do business, spread the word of God, and to help Japan engineer a new and modern infrastructure.

The series (originally published at JapanTravel) introduces more than 20 key people that had a strong and lasting influence on Japan. And in fact, remnants of their influences still exist in one form or another today. Please enjoy Japan's modern history through the eyes and footsteps of her foreign visitors.

INDEX
Click on the title you are interested in.

1Yokohama Yamate’s Berrick Hall: British businessman, Bertram Berrick
2 Enoshima’s Samuel Cocking Garden: Irish businessman, Samuel Cocking
3 Motomachi Waterworks & Brick works: French businessman, Alfred Gérard
4 Yokosuka’s Verny Park: French technologist, F.L. Verny
5 Memorial of the blue-eyed Samurai: British sailor, William Adams
6-1 Kurihama’s Perry Park: U.S. Navy commander, Commodore Perry
6-2 Yokohama Archives of History: Perry's strategy
7-1 Nojima Koen Park: Italian-British photographer, Felice Beato
7-2 Kanazawa Hakkei's Chiyomoto: Beato's short trip
8 The Hotel New Grand’s “The Café”: Swiss chef, Saly Weil
9-1 Yamate History Archives: British newspaper reporter and painter, Charles Wirgman
9-2 Yamate Juban-kan French Restaurant: Wirgman in the settlement
10-1Yamate Koen Park: British Jack of all trades, William H. Smith
10-2 Yamate Museum of Tennis: Women on the Bluff
11-2 Negishi Racetrack Grandstands: American architect, J. H. Morgan
11-2 Yokohama's Yamate No. 111: Morgan and Yamate
12-1 Yokohama Beer Pub, Spring Valley: Norwegian American beer specialist, William Copeland
12-2 Hakone’s Matsuzaka-ya Inn: Copeland and Umeko
13-1 Yokohama Kamon-yama Park: British railway engineer, Edmund Morel
13-2 Old Shimbashi Station: Morel's contribution
14 Walk the Old Hakone Highway: German physician, Engelbert Kaempfer
15 The Gaiety Theater & Iwasaki Museum: Dutch businessman, MJB Noordhoek Hegt
16 Shinagawa’s Tozen-ji Temple: British surgen, William Willis
17 Former Iwasaki Residence & Garden: British architect, Josiah Conder
18 Chamberlain’s Hakone Promenade: British Japanologist, Basil Hall Chamberlain
19-1 Nikko’s Italian Villa Memorial Park: Czech architect, Antonin Raymond
19-2 The Ehrismann Residence: Raymond's principle
20-1 Nikko’s Chuzen-ji Lake: British diplomat, Sir Ernest M. Satow
20-2 Chidorigafuchi Walkway: Satow's cherry trees
21 Nikko’s Kanaya Hotel: British Victorian adventurer, Isabella Bird
22-1 Sumida River Water Bus Route: Representative of Swiss government, Aimé Humbert
22-2 Asakusa's Traditional Hagoita Fair: Humbert's inspection
23-1 Nikko’s Nishi-Rokuban Park: Scottish businessman, T.B. Glover
23-2 Nagasaki Glover Garden: Glover & Samurai
24 The Italia Ken Hotel in Niigata: Italian chef, Pietro Migliore
25 Honno-ji Temple and Oda Nobunaga: African samurai, Yasuke
26 Katsura Imperial Villa: German architect, Bruno Taut
27 Sealed Buddhist Statue of Horyu-ji Temple: American scholar of Oriental study, Ernest Fenollosa