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tiating for treaty revision by going from one State to another was a very disadvantageous one to Japan, because, on account of the most favoured nation clause which would have to be introduced into every treaty, each country would obtain without trouble all the rights granted to the countries already passed through, and would not consent to the revision unless some fresh grant be made to it specially, so that in the end Japan would have to lose much more than in the case of negotiating with all the Powers at once. This frightened our mission, and the negotiations were broken off, for Lord Iwakura communicated to the United States Government that Japan intended to assemble the representatives of the Powers in Paris, and there negotiate once for all.

From America the mission passed over to Europe, and travelled through England, France, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, Russia, Denmark, and Sweden. From the last-mentioned country it turned south, and visited the various German States, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland, and came home by way of the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, spending twenty-three months on the way. There was not a city of any size or renown which they did not visit, and everywhere they received invitation from so many sides, and inspected so many public institutions, industrial establishments, historical monuments, etc., that their days and nights were entirely filled up. The exhibition of Vienna, in 1873, showed them what the world’s industry and art could produce. The diary of the mission in five illustrated volumes, carefully compiled by the scholars accompanying the mission, and published by the Imperial Government, furnishes most interesting and instructive reading even to this day. It contains the history, statistics, politics, finance, and military organization, of the countries passed through, and one can readily imagine how much the stories told by this mission contributed to open the eyes of the Japanese public to the things going on abroad. We can also imagine how the thoughts and ideas of the leading men of Japan composing the mission became differentiated from those of their colleagues remaining at home. Hence, though attended with little diplomatic result, the importance of this mission in the history of Japan’s external relations can hardly be overestimated.

About the same time Legations were established, and permanent Ministers sent to Austria, United States, England, France, and Russia.