Gaikoku bugyō

Gaikoku bugyō (外国奉行^?) were the commissioners or "magistrates of foreign affairs" appointed at the end of the Edo era by the Tokugawa shogunate to oversee trade and diplomatic relations with foreign countries. In essence this was the beginning of the creation of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Japan's long period of isolationist policy.

The Gaikoku bugyō system began just prior to the negotiations which resulted in the Harris Treaty. First appointed in August 1858, the gaikoku-bugyō were shogunate officials who were charged with advising the government on foreign affairs and who were tasked with conducting negotiations with foreign diplomats both in Japan and abroad. This was a high-ranking office, in status roughly equivalent to that of kanjō-bugyō, or expressed differently, the status of this office ranked slightly below that of daimyo. The number of gaikoku bugyō varied, from five in 1858 to a maximum of 13, with wide variations in the numbers of officials who were appointed across the span of years.

The office was often held concurrently with that of kanjō-bugyō or the office was held concurrently by those serving the shogunate as governor of one of the great ports (Nagasaki bugyō or Kanagawa bugyō).

The Gaikoku bugyō system ended in 1869 when the new Meiji government was formed; but some of the foundational work of this period proved useful to the nascent Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some 70 Gaikoku bugyō commissioners were named during this significant period. Hotta succeeded Abe Masahiro, and in his years at the post had to address the issue of the Harris Treaty of 1858.

The genesis of the gaikoku-bugyō pre-dates the actual creation of the office.

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Wikipedia