The American Merchant Experience in Nineteenth Century Japan

ISBN-13: 9780415296830 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 272 str.

Kevin C. Murphy; C. Murphy Kevin

Opis

American merchants established trading firms in the ports of Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki which operated from 1859-1899 until the repeal of the Unequal Treaties. Members of a privileged, semi-colonial community, the merchants formed the largest group of Americans in 19th century Japan. In this first book-length treatment of this group, Kevin Murphy explores their interactions with the Japanese in the treaty port system, how the Japanese leadership manipulated them to its own ends, and how the merchants themselves defined the limitations of American business in Japan through their ambiguous but deep concern with order and opportunity, restraint and dominance, and conservatism and dominance.

Spis treści

Preface Introduction 1. Isolation Proposed and Embraced: The Treaty Port Setting 2. Life on the Edge: Treaty Port Society 3. Formal Power, Actual Weakness: Consuls as Intermediaries 4. From Frenzy to Insecurity: The Contours of Trade 5. The Price of Isolation: External Pressures 6. Business by Proxy: Internal Hollowness 7. The Failure of Imperialism Bibliography

O autorze

Kevin Murphy is chair of the Department of History at Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois.