Francie a otevření Japonska

The paper aims to outline the circumstances that led France to conclude a treaty with Japan in the second half of the 19th century. The traditional historiographical approach to the issue of the opening of Japan’s ports highlights the American role or Commodore Perry’s mission of 1853 or analogically focuses on British, Russian, and Dutch policy in the Far East. However, France was one of the European states that had so far shown interest in Japanese ports in establishing trade relations. The paper aims to describe French activities in the Far East in relation to Japan, considering the missionary activity in the Ryukyu Islands and the actions of French admirals who attempted to open Japanese ports of their own accord in the 1840s. The core of the paper focuses on the first half of the 1850s and related French attempts to sign an agreement with Japan considering international circumstances.