研究ノート
神奈川・横浜のデータ

DATA FOR KANAGAWA, YOKOHAMA : INTRODUCTION

This page features the raw research notes made during the research stage. The notes are incomplete and may contain initial errors in understanding that were corrected in the final text. They are nonetheless helpful for further study. The data on this page is not shown in the printed book.

IMPORTANT: Not all raw data discovered is displayed on this website. There is more data in my personal notes.

KANAGAWA-YOKOHAMA LOCATIONS

These are the known locations of the Consulate in Kanagawa and Yokohama. The years are mostly (but not exclusively) based on the publication years of the Japan Directory, the Yellow Pages, etc., so they need to be checked more carefully. They generally run one year behind.

The situation in Kanagawa-Yokohama is a bit confusing:

1. Initially, there was no official legation, just a consulate-general and a consulate, but these acted as a legation
2. The consulate in Kanagawa acted as a legation while the consulate-general was located in Nagasaki
3. The consulate-general/legation was simultaneously active in Edo-Tokyo and Kanagawa-Yokohama
4. There was a consulate in Yokohama at the same time that there was a legation active in Yokohama (as well as Edo-Tokyo) at a different address

To simplify matters, the data for the Consulate/Legation will be separated from that of the consulate.

A. LEGATION

This includes the initial consulate and the consulate-general acting as a legation.

• 7/3/1859 — Around 9 p.m., the cargo ship Princes [sic] Charlotte, a Netherlands owned barquentine captained by Klaas Lourensz Hille, arrived at Yokohama with Vice-Consul De Graeff van Polsbroek (ディルク・デ・グラーフ・ファン・ポルスブルック) and his interpreter Kenzō Tōgawa on board (Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. Batavia, 25-02-1860, p. 3. | Moeshart, Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek and the Opening of Japan 1857-1869, pp. 72)
• The British and American consuls were not on the scene.
• The next day, De Graeff van Polsbroek went ashore and asked Japanese officials welcoming him for a house. They pointed at five nice houses explaining those were for the consuls. Then they pointed at blocks of houses that “looked like horse stables” and explained that those were for the merchants. De Graeff van Polsbroek arranged that three of the nice houses went to the Dutch merchants J. Schut Jr., Gerlach and Kniffler. De Graeff van Polsbroek continued to live on the ship as he only wanted to open the consulate in the town mentioned in the treaty, Kanagawa. Even in December of that year, when De Graeff van Polsbroek lived in Kanagawa, the Princes Charlotte was still called the “consulate ship” by the officials of the Yokohama customs office.
• “Reeds dadelijk had ik, bij het aan wal stappen, rondgeleid door den Vice-Gouverneur allerlei aanmerkingen te maken over de uitgestrektheid grond door de Japanse Regering voor een vreemdenkwartier bestemd. Die plek toch was veel te klein. Daarop waren gebouwd van hout, vijf woonhuizen met vier kamers elk en waren bestemd voor de Consuls der tractaat-mogendheden. De kooplieden moesten maar aan boord hunner schepen blijven bij hunne goederen of anders moesten zij maar tenten bouwen op de stukken grond door palissaderingen omgeven en die de Regering hun wilde verhuren. Die grond was erg slecht opgehoogd en drassig, de straten niet geplaveid en met nat weder niet te begaan. Ik herinner mij eens een Amerikaans matroos te hebben gevonden, die waarschijnlijk dronken in een dier straten gevallen was en in den modder gestikt.” “De Japanse stad Yokohama, nieuw gebouwd zag er keurig uit maar in de menigvuldige winkels aldaar kon men porselein, lak of houtwerk kopen, maar geen huishoudelijke of levensbehoeften.” “Het tolkantoor, van hout opgetrokken, was goed ingericht. De landingsplaatsen en de los- en laadprauwen lieten niets te wenschen over.” “Reeds dadelijke maakte ik de Gouverneur er attent op dat Kanagawa met Yokohama voor de Europeesche handel was geopend, dat ik er niets op tegen had en dus ook niet zoude verhinderen dat mijne landgenooten zicht te Yokohama zouden vestigen, omdat ik aan die plaats de voorkeur gaf boven Kanagawa en ook de ankerplaats voor de schepen zooveel zekerder was, maar dat mijn Regeering mij benoemd had to Consul te Kanagawa en niet te Yokohama en ik mij aldaar zou vestigen.” “Groote ontsteltenis!! De Gouverneur verzocht mij dringend op dit mijn besluit terug te komen. Gaat gij daar wonen, dan zullen alle andere Consuls, die nog komen moeten, uw voorbeeld volgen. De Europeanen zullen dan verspreid gaan wonen in Yokohama en Kanagawa en zal de bescherming hunner levens en eigendommen voor ons groot bezwaar opleveren.” (Moeshart, Journaal, pp. 53-54)
• The Japanese government assigned De Graeff van Polsbroek a “dilapidated” temple in Kanagawa located on a “narrow side street, completely separated from the main road.” After he had moved in he noticed there were better temples at better locations. When he asked for a better building, the governor told him there were none. So, De Graeff van Polsbroek went out and rented a temple himself “at the end of Kanagawa, right on the main road to Edo” where he placed a high flagpole “so that all travellers from and to Edo could already see the Dutch flag from far away.” (De Oostpost : letterkundig, wetenschappelijk en commercieel nieuws- en advertentieblad. Soerabaya, 15-05-1860, p. 4.)
• “Het leven in dien tempel, verre verwijderd van Yokohama waar langzamerhand vele Europeanen waren aangekomen was echter verbazend vervelend. Te Yokohama huurde ik een planken huis met twee vertrekken en richtte dat in voor Consulaat. De voordeur gaf terstond toegang tot mijn kantoor en de beide ramen waren van papier.” “Dagelijks stak ik van Kanagawa naar Yokohama over met een door mij gehuurde boot, bemand met vijf man. Die overtocht die met goed bezeilden wind een half uur duurde, was dikwerf vrij onaangenaam. Dikwerf kwam ik met een nat pak aan en moest dat aanhouden tot ik weder omstreeks 6 uur te Kanagawa was teruggekeerd, dankbaar rust te kunnen genieten, na een dag vol moeilijkheden.” (Moeshart, Journaal, pp. 54)
• The rent for Choenji was 80 Ichibu per month (Moeshart, Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek and the Opening of Japan 1857-1869, pp. 90).
• Was only consul in Yokohama and all Westerners asked for his assistance (Moeshart, Journaal, pp. 54).
• In his diary, De Graeff van Polsbroek writes that he left Nagasaki in June on the brig Christiaan Louis, and that Donker Currtius appointed him Vice- Consul on June 18, 1859. He also writes, “that was given to me for habitation, a temple located at the end of Kanagawa.” Both pieces of information differ from the letters printed in the newspapers. But his diary appears to have been written much later, while the letters in the newspaper were written soon after the events they describe. The Algemeen Dagblad of 9/3/1859 reports that the Princes Charlotte arrived at Kanagawa on 7/3/1859 (BINNENGEKOMEN. Algemeen Handelsblad. Amsterdam, 30-09-1859, p. 6. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 06-10-2021). The Christiaan Louis was in Shanghai during this time period (BINNENGEKOMEN. Algemeen Handelsblad. Amsterdam, 01-10-1859, p. 6. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 06-10-2021).

Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek in Kanagawa-Yokohama

Dutch Diplomats in Yokohama

NOTE: The 1872 Japan Directory lists Van der Hoeven as living on the Bluff.

B. CONSULATE

For many years, there was the exceptional situation of Yokohama simultaneously hosting a Dutch consulate AND the Dutch legation. Even more bizarre, it appears that in 1878–1879 (probably a year earlier) they were both located at Benten. The legation moved to Tokyo around 1886.

The Consulate was launched after De Graeff van Polsbroek became Political Agent and Consul-General in 1863 (November 16). Consul Georg Frederik (or Frederic?) Plate was officially appointed Consul for this new consulate on January 28, 1864 by King Willem II. Was acting consul in advance of that date.

In letter dated February 12, 1866 (NL-HaNA_2.05.01_3052_0264), mention is made of the transfer of the Consulate from Plate to W. van der Tak of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij, as temporary acting consul. Van der Tak’s house is blown up during the fire of 1866. In a letter by De Graeff van Polsbroek about the fire, he mentions that the consulate was also destroyed. No other account about the fire, whether in newspaper articles or books, mentions the destruction of the Dutch consulate. They do however mention the destruction of Van der Tak’s house. It therefore seems safe to assume that the consulate was located at Van der Tak’s house at the time, likely also the office of the NHM.

Important Observations

1. Through 1880: The Dutch Consulate is managed by employees of the Netherlands Trading Society (aka Netherlands Trading Agency, NHM in Dutch).
2. 1882 and 1891: Dutch consular matters in Yokohama are taken care of by the Belgian Consulate (1882: No. 179 Bluff) and the German Consulate-General (1885~ 1891: No. 81).
3. 1897~1905: The consulate is located at 6 different addresses and has 3 different Vice-Consuls.
4. 1906~1917: Dutch consular matters in Yokohama are taken care of mostly by Consul-General Ch. Bastin of the Belgian Consulate (1908~1917) at four different addresses. The longest at No. 46-A Bluff (1912~1917).
5. 1918: Leon van de Polder, Councillor of the Netherlands Legation, is in charge at No. 76, Main Street.
6. 1923–1941 & 1950–1952: The consulate is run by Menno Simon Wiersum. It is as yet unknown where Wiersum was during WWII and what he did.

NOTES

1. It appears that there have been Dutch diplomatic missions in Yokohama at 25 to 30 different locations.
2. There are some discrepancies between the official histories and the diary of De Graeff van Polsbroek. For example, the official histories say that the Dutch consulate moved from Kanagawa to Yokohama in 1862. The Japan Directory also lists Kanagawa through 1863 (so likely 1862). But according to the diary of De Graeff van Polsbroek the move took place around January 25, 1861. Ten days after the killing of Heusken. Foreign legations were moved from Edo to Yokohama. On his timeline, Bas Valckx writes for 1863: “Van Polsbroek verplaatst het Nederlands consulaat naar Yokohama vanuit Kanagawa.” Was this just an official confirmation of an established fact?
3. Chooji is stated as the Dutch legation during the 1860s, but De Graeff van Polsbroek’s diary and correspondence by Swiss envoy plenipotentiary Aimé Humbert state that De Graeff was based in Yokohama and only occasionally made brief trips to Chooji. Other sources corroborate this, also for the other legations:
   1. “Ever since Pruyn had retreated to Yokohama in The summer of 1863, U.S. Ministers and other Western diplomats had been in the awkward position of living in Yokohama, where they received their mail and frequently conferred with each other, but traveling by land or water to Tokyo for meetings with officials. The twenty-mile trip to transact business ordinarily meant at least one night in Tokyo at the sparsely furnished legation, itself four miles from the Foreign Office. Eventually, DeLong and his peers split the weeks in half: Monday to Wednesday in Tokyo, the rest in Yokohama.” — Spoilsmen in a “flowery fairyland” : the development of the U.S. Legation in Japan, 1859–1906. Jack L. Hammersmith. The Kent State University Press (May 29, 1998)
4. Description of a visit by the Dutch physician D. Hellema in June, July 1875: “Te Yokohama houdt de Nederlandsche minister-resident nog verblijf, terwijl de vertegenwoordigers der overige vreemde mogendheden te Tokio resideeren. Tevens vonden we te Yokohama een Nederlandsch consulaat, een hoofdfactorij van de Nederl. Handelsmaatschappij, alsmede enkele Nederlanders, doch de Nederlandsche vlag zochten wij tevergeefs op de reede.” — Eene reis om de wereld. Hellema, D. Nieuwediep : De Buisonjé en Zoon (1880) pp. 164
5. “Onze minister-resident houdt nog zijn verblijf in de bijgebouwen, zijnde het hoofdgebouw der Nederlandsche legatie voor een viertal jaren verbrand.” ibid. pp. 165 (Does this refer to the fire of 1866—nine years earlier at this point—or was there another fire? Or is Hellema incorrectly informed, as he is in a few other instances in the book?)
6. The Dutch Consulate in Yokohama was located next to the Yokohama United Club. It appears the club was used to entertain guests of the consulate: “Door onzen vriendelijken consul, den heer van Oordt, werden we geïntroduceerd in de “Yokohama United Club”, zijnde een aanzienlijk en goed ingericht gebouw aan den waterkant.” ibid. pp. 166.
7. Yokohama is unique in the history of Dutch diplomacy in Japan. For several years, the city simultaneously hosted both a legation and a consulate within its borders.
8. When we think of a consulate now, we think of a particular place with personnel and all kinds of office equipment. But in the early years in Japan, consulates were simple outfits that often changed addresses. A consulate was really the person that ran it rather than the place itself.
9. Note that the Dutch legation was initially far away from the foreign settlement, literally on the edge of Yokohama. Although it was at the entrance of Yokohama, the native town separated the legation from the foreign settlement. Once Yokohama Station was opened, the legation became a perfect location, just a few minutes walk from the station. This was unknown when the Dutch legation was first located here because the preliminary survey work for the railway began on April 25, 1870, while the Dutch legation in Yokohama was built in the early 1860s.
10. It appears that the Dutch legation occupied an area that originally belonged to the Shukan Bentensha (洲干弁天社) shrine. I wonder if there is any information extant about the negotiations with the shrine. They can not have been very happy that a section of their sacred forest was cut down to accommodate foreigners.
11. De Graeff van Polsbroek arrived at Kanagawa on July 3, 1859. Source: KANAGAWA, 15 Julij 1859. Mijnheer de Redakteur!. “Bataviaasch handelsblad”. Batavia, 02-11-1859, p. 4. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 01-10-2021, https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:110531801:mpeg21:p004

QUESTIONS & CHECKS

1. Are there letters, diaries, etc, describing the consul houses where the Dutch merchants J. Schut Jr., Gerlach and Kniffler lived when Yokohama was opened?
2. Jobutsuji (成仏寺, later used by James Curtis Hepburn) and Choenji. Contemporary maps, photos (sample 1, sample 2), illustrations?
3. Does Choenji have any photos, images, documents with dates or agreements, or reminders of the 1850s, 1860s?
4. De Graeff van Polsbroek rented a place in Yokohama from 1859. Where?
5. Records of negotiations between Japanese government and Benten? Between gov’t and De Graeff van Polsbroek about Benten?
6. Are there plans of the consulate at Benten?
7. Benten used til when?
8. When were the buildings pulled down and what replaced it?
9. Exact location of the Benten consulate on a current map
10. Both the French and German legations were located next to the Dutch legation at Benten. Are there French and German historians that have studied their country’s legation during this period? Have they encountered descriptions or referrals of the Dutch Legation?
11. Get map showing which part of Yokohama was destroyed by the 1866 fire (in Dutch National Archives).
12. Find info about Yokohama consulate burning down during the Great Yokohama Fire of November 26, 1866 (Keio 2). There is a description by De Graeff van Polsbroek.
13. Kaigandori No.5: Some sources identify the same photo (see under IMAGES) as either the consulate or the Yokohama United Club. When was this building built? When was it torn down?
14. What happened to the Yokohama Consulate between 1940 and 1958?

DESCRIPTION OF THE BENTEN LEGATION

This text has been machine-translated from the original Italian and needs to be edited. The original was written by Swiss politician Aimé Humbert (1819–1900) who visited Japan in 1863–1864 to negotiate a treaty.

About twenty warships and commercial vessels, English, Dutch, French and American, are almost in front of the Franco quarter, which can be recognized by its white houses and its consular pavilions. Indigenous junks rest at anchor a short distance from the port’s junctions and the customs warehouses. We pass them slowly, slowing the car, and skirt the Japanese city, of which all the houses, except for a certain number of warehouses, are made of wood and seem to have only one floor above the ground floor.

When we were in front of the Benten district, located at the end of the Yokohama beach and at the mouth of a large river, our corvette chose an anchorage near the Dutch legation.

It was then the only European residence established in this part of the indigenous city. I disembarked the following morning, and my excellent host, Monsieur de Polsbroek, consul general of the Netherlands, installed me in the body of the building which he occupied himself.

Benten’s Dutch residence was built by the Japanese government, which took advantage of the opportunity to solve in its own way an interesting international problem, the application of indigenous architecture to the needs of our civilization.

The main building has the shape of a long square, composed of two high walls to the east and west, and of two long and low side facades, to the north and to the south, made partly of brick, partly of wood and earth. beat.

A veranda, a spacious wooden gallery, three feet high from the ground, which rests on pillars, like the Swiss huts, goes around the three facades of west, north and east, and is intersected above each facade by an elegant peristyle, leading to the garden.

All the rooms of the house open onto the veranda by means of double-leaf doors, equipped with glass, which take the place of windows. The east facade, occupied entirely by the hall, has four of these double doors, and the north one has eight. To the west is the peristyle of honor, the main entrance door of the house, which gives access to a very spacious, very high corridor, which leads to the hall, and with which all the other apartments also communicate. Each room is therefore independent from the neighboring rooms and has two exits, one on the veranda, the other on the corridor.

The south side contains only the bathroom, the cellar, the pantry, the cupboard, the kitchen and bedrooms. Thanks to the height of the ceilings and the beautiful dimensions of the corridor and the kitchen, the air circulates freely in the interior of the house. As for the light, it would be very intercepted by the veranda, if the number of glass doors did not remedy, up to a certain point, this inconvenience.

This is the ground floor of our home of Benten, and it contains nothing else, since all the rest of the vast building consists of mezzanines and roofs whose ingenious reinforcement is completely empty inside, without floors, attics, attics or dormers. This kind of architecture, typical of Japan, must have the purpose of allowing the major buildings, such as temples and palaces, to resist earthquakes or terrible hurricanes known as typhoons.

An external staircase zigzags up the southern edge of the roof and leads to the top of the building, where there is a viewpoint. Often we spied from the top of this aerial observatory the arrival of the steamer carrying the suitcase of Europe; we often got on it when the traditional slowness of the Japanese government forced us to inaction and kept us whole months in the position of those passengers whose ship was stationary in the calm region. Then a glimpse thrown on the roadstead, on the allied fleets, on the European city under construction, reminded us that if things did not always go to the degree of our impatience, the work of the opening of Japan still continued.

Only four people live in the house I have just described: the consul general of the Netherlands and his chancellor, my Dutch secretary-interpreter and myself. But we are surrounded by an entire colony of clerks and servants, divided into several small houses scattered among the groves and bushes of the garden.

Close to the western peristyle of our residence, we have the residence of the [constable?] of the consulate. In this pavilion we planted our small photography workshop and a guardhouse for the naval soldiers of the Dutch station.

A short distance from the back of this building is a godown, or fireproof emporium, hermetically sealed by a door and iron panes.

The house of the janitor is near the large entrance of the sturdy pile-dwelling that surrounds the garden in all directions, except towards the bay, where it is replaced by a barrier of bamboo canes, placed horizontally, above the water and at the level of the terrace that runs along the seashore.

The entrance consists of three doors, a large one with two wings, which opens only to the owner and guests of the house, as well as to visitors; and two small ones, on both sides, for suppliers, indigenous merchants and servants: these are open all day, but close at sunset. The doorman in chief is a good family man who exercises a kind of patriarchal authority over other servants and even in the neighborhood. His home, where he always has a teacup, a brazier, some pipes and some prepared tobacco, is the haunt of a select society of idlers and wives of the Benten quarter. The service, however, is done with an exactness, of which one can be happy in the Far East. The functions of porters or monban, as they are called in Japan, are not limited to supervising, opening and closing the passages entrusted to their custody, but they must strike the hours, day and night, by beating with a hammer on them. a gong, a bronze shield suspended from the architrave of the house; moreover, they announce in the same way the people who come to the residence; a blow indicates a merchant, a bourgeois from the free quarter; two shots an officer or an interpreter; three shots a consul, a vessel commander, a Japanese governor; four shots, a minister or an admiral. The road from the entrance of the stilt house to that of the house is long enough for you to have time to prepare for the reception of the visitors. Finally, the monban is in charge of providing for himself, or, under his responsibility, through his helpers, for the night patrols that are made twice every hour around the houses and between all the avenues and all the terraces included in the boundary of the garden. The man on the watch warns him of his passage by striking three blows, one long and two short, with the middle of two square pieces of wood. In case of danger, he must give the alarm by striking the gong with sharp blows.

Source: Il Giro del mondo, giornale di viaggi, geografia e costumi of February 21, 1867 (Volume VII, Issue 8, page 122).

BENTEN SHRINE

Shukan Bentensha was relocated to Hagoromo-cho (羽衣町) in 1869 (Meiji 2). The name was changed to Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社). It is also called Yokohama Benten. Map of current location.

弁天社べんてんしゃが羽衣町はごろもちょうに移うつったそのあと地ちには、神奈川かながわ・長延寺ちょうえいじから総領事館そうりょうじかん(1)が移うつってきて、１８６８年ねん・慶応けいおう４年ねんに公使館こうしかんになりました。さらに慶応けいおう２年ねん・１８６６年ねんにできたフランス公使館こうしかん(2)のとなりには、翌年よくとし神奈川かながわ・甚行寺じんぎょうじからフランス領事館りょうじかんも移転いてんします。そのほか元もとフランス公使館別館こうしかんべっかんを使つかってイタリア公使館こうしかん(3)が開ひらかれ、１８６７年ねん・慶応けいおう３年ねんには北きたドイツ連邦公使館れんぽうこうしかん(4)が建たてられています。

Source: http://www.kaikou.city.yokohama.jp/kids/bunmeikaika/d6.html

BENTEN AREA

De derde wijk van Yokohama, de Benten, maakte eertijds een afzonderlijk dorp uit, zij bevindt zich aan het noordelijke uiteinde van de stand en ontleent haren naam van een geëerden tempel, Benten-Sama-no-mia. Zij is bevolkt door handwerkslieden en Visschers, zonder eens menigte monniken, die den tempel van de godin Benten-Sama bedienen, mede te rekenen. Deze afgod onderneemt veelvuldige reizen door het gewest om te worden overgegeven aan de bewondering der geloovigen. Als zij wederkeert in haren tempel viert men te Benten plegtige feesten (madzouris), bij welke gelegenheid het gansche dorp wordt verkeerd in een waar kermisveld, men ziet er dan worstelaars, schouwburgen, vreemde dieren, goochelaars, enz. Benten bevat slechts eene enkele Europesche woning, het Nederlandsche konsulaat. Het was in 1862 de grootste en schoonste verblijfplaats van Yokohama.

Source: Lindau, Rudolf (1865) Japan: eene reisbeschrijving. Leyden: De Breuk & Smits, 166-167

Rudolf Lindau (1829–1910) was a German diplomat and author. He lead the first Swiss delegation to Japan in April 28th of 1859, alongside Aimé Humbert-Droz, and lived in Japan between 1859 and 1862.

REMAINS OF WALL (大岡川 石積み護岸)

The remains of the stone wall of the reclaimed area used for the Dutch consulate (大岡川護岸の遺構) was unearthed in 2016:

1. Google map
2. Article about excavations
3. History of the location
4. Detailed explanations
5. Situation today

LOCATIONS BY YEAR

The data below is from the directories, augmented with information from the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. The years do not fully match the dates in De Graeff van Polsbroek’s diary. For example, De Graeff van Polsbroek writes that he moved to Yokohama in 1861, but the Directory lists him at Kanagawa through 1863.

JAPAN DIRECTORY ENTRIES

Raw data as found in the Japan Directory.

1864
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, Dutch Consul | L. Buys, Constable Dutch Consulate

[Note: According to a list published in the The Chronicle and Directory for China, Japan and the Phillippines [sic] for 1864, some 26 Dutch citizens and officials lived in Japan]

1865
G. F. Plate, Consul | W. A. Houpt, Assistant

1866
G. F. Plate, Consul | W. A. Houpt, Assistant

1867
G. F. Plate, Consul | W. A. Houpt, Assistant

1868
No entry for Yokohama, but this entry for Edo:
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, Consul General. | L. T. Kleintjes, Chancellor at H.N.M. Legation, residence in Yeddo, Cho-oodgee and at Yokohama at Benten | De Wringer, Assistant

First entry for the Netherlands Trading Society (at No 5A): W. van der Tak, Agent | R. A. Mees | C. B. Donker | P. E. Pistorius | H. Bon | J. Bloem

1869
Yeddo: D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, Minister Plenipotentiary | L. T. Kleintjes, Chancellor at H.N.M. Legation, residence in Yeddo, Cho-oodgee, Yokohama at Benten | De Wringer, Assistant

Netherlands Trading Society (No 5A): W. van der Tak, Agent | R. A. Mees | H. Bon | J. Bloem | F. Pak

1870
Legation: D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, Minister Resident | L. I. Kleintjes, Secretary
Consulate: W. van der Tak, Consul | J. Bloem, Constable

The address for Van der Tak and NHM is No. 5.

1871
Yeddo: D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, Minister Plenipotentiary | L. T. Kleintjes, Chancellor at H.N.M. Legation, residence in Yedo | De Wringer, Assistant

No entry for Dutch consulate!

1872
Legation: Chevalier F. P. van der Hoeven, Minister Resident | Kleintjes, Secretary (absent)
Consulate: W. van der Tak (absent), Consul | A.J. Bauduin, Acting Consul

Addresses:
A.J. Bauduin, Neth. Trading Co, agent : 5
J. Bloem, Neth. Trading Co, godown-keeper : 5
M. Dames, Netherlands Trading Co., clerk : 5
G.L. Kleintjes, Netherland [sic] Consulate : 5
R.A. Mees, Neth. Trading Co, clerk : 5
T. Pak, Netherlands Trading Co., clerk : 5
J.A.H. Schepel, Neth. Trading Co., clerk : 5
J.H.N.M. van der Hoeven, Minister : Bluff
Van der Tak, Netherlands Trading Co. : 5

1873
Yedo: F. P. van der Hoeven, Minister Resident | B. Donker Curtius, Secretary

W. van der Tak (absent), Consul | A.J. Bauduin, Acting Consul

1874
Yedo: W. F. H. Von Weekherlin, Minister Resident (also Sweden and Norway) | T. H. W. van der Brock, Secretary

A.J. Bauduin, Acting Consul

1875
Legation: W. F. H. Von Weckherlin, Minister Resident | T. H. W. van der Brock, Secretary (Tokyo or Yokohama?)

1876
Legation: W. F. H. von Weckherlin, Minister Resident | H. Donker Curtius
Consulate (No. 12): W. C. van Oordt, Consul | C. W. Reynders, Chancellor

Bluff Directory
23 — W. C. van Oordt
(no number) — H. Donker Curtius

1877

Legation: W. F. H. von Weckherlin, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway)
Consulate (No. 12): W. C. van Oordt, Consul | C. W. Reynders, Chancellor

Yokohama 5A (shared with Yokohama United Club): Netherlands Trading Society: J. J. van der Pot, Agent and Acting Chief Agent | M. Dames, Accountant| R. A. Mees, Assistant Accountant | J. H. Donker Curtius | Hitosh Kinoshita, Interpreter

Yokohama 12: Van Oordt & Co.: Agents for the Netherlands-India Sea and Fire Insurance Co., and Samarang Sea and Fire a Insurance Co.: W. C. van Oordt | J. M. Reynvaan (absent) | A. Bernheim | C. W. Reynders | E. Popp (Hiogo)

Bluff Directory

W. C. van Oordt 23
M. Dames 25
H. Donker Curtius 42A
L. van der Polder 72
C. W. Reynders 89

1878

Legation: W. F. H. von Weckherlin, Minister Resident (absent) (also Sweden and Norway) | L. van de Polder, Acting Chancelier (listed as van der Polder in 1877 directory for Yokohama: foreign interpreter, saibansho, & 72, Bluff)
Consulate: W. C. van Oordt, Consul | C. W. Reynders, Chancelier

Yokohama 5A (shared with Yokohama United Club): Netherlands Trading Society: J. J. van der Pot, Acting Head Agent (absent) | J. Martens, Acting Head Agent, Agent at Hiogo | M. Dames, Acting Agent at Yokohama| J. C. Keg, Accountant | J. H. Donker Curtius | Hitosh Kinoshita, Interpreter

Yokohama 12: [note KD: Van Oordt & Co. Is not listed in the directory anymore! Now Dr. A. Goertz is listed for this address]

Bluff Directory

L. van der Polder 90
Previously listed Dutch inhabitants no longer listed…

Yokohama Residents
M. Dames, Acting Agent, Netherlands Trading Society, 5
J. H. Donker Curtius, Clerk, Netherlands Trading Society, 5
R. A. Mees [no address]
W. C. van Oordt, Netherlands Consul, Benten
J. J. van der Pot, Chief Agent (absent), Netherlands Trading Society, 5
C. W. Reynders, Clerk, J. P. H. Von Hemert, 25
W. F. H. von Weckherlin, Netherlands Minister (absent) [no address]

1879

Legation: Sir. H. S. Parkes, K.C.B., Acting Minister | L. van de Polder, Acting Chancelier

[Note KD: The legation of Great Britain was located at Koji-machi, Tokio. Parkes was Envoy Extraordinary, Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul-General]

Consulate: W. C. van Oordt, Consul

Yokohama 5A (shared with Yokohama United Club): Netherlands Trading Society: J. J. van der Pot, Head Agent | M. Dames | H. W. C. van Cattenburch | R. A. Mees

[Note KD: 5A is also listed here as the private residence of Felice Beato, then already a famous photographer. His studio/office(?) was at 24B. Stillfried and Andersen was at 17. Beato was a friend of De Graeff van Polsbroek and was able to photograph Tokyo because of De Graeff. Did NHM rent this location from Beato through an introduction by De Graeff?]

Page 86~105
Yokohama Residents
H. W. C. van Cattenburch, Clerk, Netherlands Trading Society, 5
M. Dames, Acting Agent, Netherlands Trading Society, 5
R. A. Mees, Clerk, Netherlands Trading Society, 5, & 26, Bluff
W. C. van Oordt, Netherlands Consul, Benten
L. van de Polder, Acting Chancelier Netherlands Legation & 170 Bluff
J. J. van der Pot, Head Agent, Netherlands Trading Society, 5
C. W. Reynders, Clerk, M. Raspe, 163

1880

Legation: Le Chevalier de Stoetwegen, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway) | L. Van de Polder, Chancelier
Consulate No. 5: J. J. van der Pot, Consul

Yokohama 5A (shared with Yokohama United Club): Netherlands Trading Society: J. J. van der Pot, Head Agent | M. Dames | H. W. C. van Cattenburch | R. A. Mees
Yokohama 5A: Netherlands Consulate: J. J. van der Pot, Consul

1881

Legation, Tokio [listed under Yokohama, while the legations of Austro-Hungary, China, France, German Empire, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, USA are listed under Tokio!]: Ch. de Struve, Minister Resident (also Denmark) | L. Van de Polder, Chancelier

Yokohama 5: J. J. van der Pot, Consul

Yokohama 5a: Yokohama United Club (Vice-President: J. J. van der Pot)

Yokohama 5: F. Beato, Private Residence
Yokohama 5a: Netherlands Trading Society: J. J. van der Pot, Head Agent
Yokohama 5a: Netherlands Consulate: J. J. van der Pot, Consul
Yokohama 5a: Yokohama United Club
[Note KD: No entry for 5b]

1882

Yokohama:
Legation: J. J. van der Pot, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway) | L. Van de Polder, Secretaire and Interpreter
Consulate: F. G. Scribe, Acting Consul [F. G. Scribe, Belgian Consul: 179 Bluff — Page 129]

[Consulate no longer listed at No. 5!]

Yokohama 25: J. Ph. Von Hemert, Liquidator Netherland Trading Society, Japan | R. A. Mees

Bluff 245: J. J. van der Pot [Previously Bund 5. 245 was the address of J. C. Hepburn, M.D.! — Since when? On page 122 (Alphabetical List) he is still listed on this address]
Bluff no address: J. H. Donker Curtius [Page 118: Kurumazaka, Bluff]

1883

Yokohama No. 245 Bluff:
Legation: J. J. van der Pot, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway) | L. Van de Polder, Secrétaire and Interpréte [Residence: 170 Bluff]

Bluff 245: J. J. van der Pot [But also J. C. Hepburn, M.D., Netherlands Legation, Norwegian Legation, Swedish Legation)

1884

Yokohama No. 244 (!) Bluff:
Legation: J. J. van der Pot, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway) [Residence: 244A Bluff on page 161] | L. Van de Polder, Secrétaire and Interpréte [Residence: 244C Bluff on page 161]

Bluff 245: J. C. Hepburn, M.D.

1885

Yokohama No. 244 (!) Bluff:
Legation: J. J. van der Pot, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway) [Residence: 244A Bluff on page 173] | L. Van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter [Residence: 259 Bluff on page 173 (Leon)]

Consulate: Yokohama 81: Ed. Zappe, Acting Consul [Note KD: Check previous years again to make sure there was no consul!]

1886

Yokohama No. 71 (!) Bluff:
Legation: J. J. van der Pot, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Sweden and Norway) [Residence: 71A Bluff on page 169] | L. Van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter [Residence: 259 Bluff on page 169 (Leon)]

Consulate: Yokohama 81: Ed. Zappe, Acting Consul

1887

Yokohama 81: German consulate in charge (also Norway and Sweden)

Yokohama 81: Consulate Germany: Ed. Zappe, Consulate-General

[Note: Netherlands not listed for Tokyo!]

Nippon Yusen Kaisha & Ushijimazaka, Bluff: J. H. Donker Curtius
J. J. van der Pot, Netherlands Minister Resident: 71A Bluff
L. Van de Polder, Netherlands Legation: Shiba, Tokyo [!]

1888

Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: J. J. van der Pot, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter

No address: G. Von Schelling, Acting Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

[G. Von Schelling is vice consul at the Consulate-General of Germany at Yokohama 81]

J. J. van der Pot and L. Van de Polder now both in Shiba, Tokyo [!]

1889

Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: J. J. van der Pot (absent), Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Chargé d’Affaires (ad interim), Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 81 [address only given for Norway and Sweden…]: G. Von Schelling, Acting Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

[ Yokohama 81 is the address of the Consulate-General of Germany. G. Von Schelling is vice consul]

1890

Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: J. J. van der Pot (absent), Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Chargé d’Affaires (ad interim), Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 81 [address only given for Norway and Sweden…]: Dr. Schmidt-Leda, Acting Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

[Yokohama 81 is the address of the Consulate-General of Germany. Dr. Schmidt-Leda is vice consul]

1891

1 Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: Count D. de Bylandt, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 81 [address only given for Norway and Sweden…]: German Consulate-General, in charge of the Netherlands’ interests (also Norway and Sweden)

[Yokohama 81 is the address of the Consulate-General of Germany. Dr. O. Schmidt-Leda is Consul-General]

1892

1 Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: Count D. de Bylandt, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 92: The Netherlands Legation in provisional charge (also Norway and Sweden)

Yokohama 92: Netherlands Consulate | Swedish and Norwegian Consulate | H. Grauert: Agent for the North German Insurance Co., Hamburg: H. Grauert, Rob. Bleifus | M. Engert: Bill and bullion broker | Dr. W. Van der Heyden, Physician and Surgeon

1893

1 Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: Count D. de Bylandt, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 92: The Netherlands Legation in provisional charge (also Norway and Sweden)

Yokohama 92: Netherlands Consulate | Swedish and Norwegian Consulate | Adolph Schultze, Agent for German Lloyds | H. Grauert: Agent for the North German Insurance Co., Hamburg: H. Grauert, Rob. Bleifus | M. Engert: Bill and bullion broker | Dr. W. Van der Heyden, Physician and Surgeon

1894

1 Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: Count D. de Bylandt, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 92: The Netherlands Legation in provisional charge (also Norway and Sweden)

Yokohama 92: H. Grauert: Agent for the North German Insurance Co., Hamburg; and Agent for A. Rottmann & Co., London: H. Grauert, Rob. Bleifus, M. Yamakami | Netherlands Consulate | Swedish and Norwegian Consulate | Adolph Schultze, Agent for German Lloyds | Thomas Watson, Private Residence

1895

1 Kiridoshi, Shiba, Tokyo: Count D. de Bylandt, Minister Resident (also Denmark, Norway and Sweden) | Léon van de Polder, Secretary and Interpreter

Yokohama 92: The Netherlands Legation in provisional charge (also Norway and Sweden)

Yokohama 92: H. Grauert: Agent for the North German Insurance Co., Hamburg; and Agent for A. Rottmann & Co., London: H. Grauert, Rob. Bleifus | Rottmann & Co. | Netherlands Consulate | Swedish and Norwegian Consulate | Adolph Schultze, Agent for German Lloyds

1896

Yokohama 92: The Netherlands Legation in provisional charge (also Norway and Sweden)

Yokohama 92: H. Grauert: Agent for the North German Insurance Co., Hamburg; and Agent for A. Rottmann & Co., London: H. Grauert, Rob. Bleifus | Rottmann & Co. | Italian Consulate | Netherlands Consulate | Swedish and Norwegian Consulate | Adolph Schultze, Agent for German Lloyds

1897

Yokohama 177: E. D. van Walree, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden: Acting-Consul)

1898

Yokohama 177: J. H. de Reus, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden: Acting-Consul) | K. Ishii, Interpreter

1899

Yokohama 90 Bluff: J. H. de Reus, Vice-Consul in Charge (also Norway and Sweden: Acting-Consul) | K. Ishii, Interpreter

1900

Yokohama 104-D Bluff: J. H. de Reus, Vice-Consul in Charge (also Norway and Sweden: Acting-Consul) | K. Ishii, Interpreter

1901

Yokohama 87B: H. Klingen, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden) | K. Ishii, Interpreter

1902

Yokohama 87B: H. Klingen, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

1903

Yokohama 89B: H. Klingen, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

1904

Yokohama 168-A: H. Klingen, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

1905

Yokohama 168-A: H. Klingen, Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

1906

Yokohama 214: Friedrich Wilhelm Retz, Acting Vice-Consul (also Norway and Sweden)

1907

Yokohama 214: L. de Villegas de St. Pierre, Acting Vice-Consul

1908

Yokohama (temporary address) International Building, No. 74: Ch. Bastin, Acting Vice-Consul

1909

Yokohama No. 30, Bluff: Ch. Bastin, Vice-Consul, in charge

1910

Yokohama No. 30, Bluff: Ch. Bastin, Vice-Consul, in charge

1911

Yokohama No. 26 (temporary address): Ch. Bastin, Acting Vice-Consul
[Note: No.26 housed Hotel de Geneve, Patten, MacKenzie & Co., Mitsui Bussan Kaisha’s Habutaye Godown and The Commercial Agency. None of them list Bastin as an employee in the directory. Bastin is the Consul-General for Belgium at the same address]

1912

Yokohama No. 46-A Bluff: Ch. Bastin, In Charge [Bastin is the Consul-General for Belgium at the same address]

1913

Yokohama No. 46-A Bluff: Ch. Bastin, In Charge

1914

Yokohama No. 46-A Bluff: Ch. Bastin, In Charge

1915

Yokohama No. 46-A Bluff: Ch. Bastin, In Charge

1916

Yokohama No. 46-A Bluff: Ch. Bastin, In Charge

1917

Yokohama No. 46-A Bluff: Ch. Bastin, In Charge

1918

Yokohama No. 76, Main Street: Leon van de Polder, Councillor of the Netherlands Legation, in charge

1919

Yokohama No. 75-D, 1st floor: M. J. Quist, Consul-in-charge

1920

Yokohama No. 75-D, 1st floor: Vice-Consulate: M. J. Quist, Consul-in-charge

1921

Yokohama No. 75-D, Yamashita-cho: Vice-Consulate: L. P. J. de Decker, Vice-Consul | U. Kobayashi, Clerk-Interpreter

1922

Yokohama No. 75-D, Yamashita-cho: H. M. J. Fein, Vice-Consul | U. Kobayashi, Clerk-Interpreter

1923

Yokohama No. 75-D, Yamashita-cho: Hw. D. Visser, Vice-Consul | U. Kobayashi, Clerk-Interpreter

[Note: In 1923, Van de Polder lives at 111-B, Bluff (at 84-A, Bluff in 1921, 1922)]

1927

Yokohama: 25, Yamashita-cho: M. S. Wiersum, Vice-Consul

1928

Yokohama: 25, Yamashita-cho: M. S. Wiersum, Vice-Consul

1929

Yokohama: 25, Yamashita-cho: M. S. Wiersum, Vice-Consul

1936

Yokohama: 25C, Yamashita-cho: M. S. Wiersum, Consul

1937

Yokohama: 25C, Yamashita-cho: M. S. Wiersum, Consul

1939

Yokohama: 25C, Yamashita-cho: M. S. Wiersum, Consul

NOTE

I have not yet found directories for the period between 1940 and 1959.

THE JAPAN TIMES DIRECTORY

Raw data found in the The Japan Times Directory.

12th Edition 1959
Page 520
Netherlands Consulate
25 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku

14th Edition 1961
Page 586
Netherlands Consulate
25 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama

16th Edition 1963-1964
Page 627
Netherlands Consulate
25 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama

17th Edition 1964-1965
Page 627
Netherlands Consulate
Strong Bldg., 204 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama

18th Edition 1965-1966
Page 507
Netherlands Consulate
Strong Bldg., 204 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama

19th Edition 1966-1967
Page 515
Netherlands Consulate
Strong Bldg., 204 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama

20th Edition 1967-1968
Yokohama: No consulate

IMAGES

The Legation

Sources locate this house at different locations. Requires more research.

The Consulate

According to this entry at the Nagasaki University Library, the Yokohama United Club was established at No. 5 Bund according to clause No. 9 in the plans for the Yokohama Foreign Settlement. The club building moved to a new building at No.4 in 1900.

This entry identifies the building on the above photo as the “Foreigners’ Club at the Settlement”, ostensibly the Yokohama United Club. The Dutch Consulate/NHM building would then be the one in the back, shown here, which the Nagasaki University Library actually identifies as the The Dutch Consulate.

Moeshart identifies each building differently depending on the book…

Information for this address from the Japan Directory:

In Western barbarians in Japan and Formosa in Tokugawa days, 1603-1868, published in 1930, Montague Paske-Smith gives the following description for the buildings on the Bund at this stretch:

“The Bund, Yokohama, looking East from the French Hatoba. Dwellings in order from the left are: Messrs. Hecht, Lilienthal & Co., Findlay Richardson & Co., A. Heard & Co., Yokohama United Club and Mr. Van der Tak.”

Van der Tak was the consul at No. 5 around 1871. This suggests that the above image is the correct one.

Japan Directory 1884 : Page 2
Legation, No. 244, Bluff
Minister Resident: J.J. van der Pot
Secrétaire Interprète: L. van de Polder

Also served as the private residence of Van der Pot, as well as the legations of Sweden and Norway.

The following two maps (from later dates) indicate where on the Bluff the consulate was located.

JOURNAAL DE GRAEFF

Relevant excerpts from the diary of Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Consul-General in Kanagawa, Yokohama and Edo.

1857, June 5
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, appointed Assistant Second Class in Dejima (page 68).

1857, July 24
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek arrives in Nagasaki (page 28).

1858, March 12~August 15
Last Hofreis (Donker Curtius & De Graeff Polsbroek) from Nagasaki to Edo (Page 34~51).

1859, June 18
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, Vice-Consul in Kanagawa¹

Date Unknown (likely shortly after moving to Kanagawa)
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek rents a “wooden house with two rooms” and “furnishes it as Consulate”²

Date Unknown
D. de Graeff van Polsbroek rents Chooji temple in Edo for “Dutch representative Donker Curtius who still resided at Dejima”.³

[Note: The British consulate was opened at Tozenji temple on July 6, 1859. The US (Townsend Harris and Heusken) opened a legation at Zenpukuji temple a month later. Also in August, the French legation is opened at Saikaiji temple. All the consuls of these countries lived in Kanagawa. Chooji temple was almost certainly rented during the same time frame.]

1860, January 29
Dankuri, interpreter of the British legation, is killed⁴

1860, January 30
French legation is burned down⁵

1860, February

Consul-General J. K. de Wit takes up his post in Nagasaki

1860, February 26
Dutch merchant captains W. de Vos and J. N. Dekker killed in Yokohama. A few days later three Russians are killed in Yokohama.⁶

1860, March 24 [25 in Journaal]

Ii Naosuke (井伊直弼), Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, is killed. After this murder, diplomats only enter Edo under escort of a large number of guards.⁷

Although Chooji has been completely furnished, it is not being used by Donker Curtius. But De Graeff van Polsbroek “often visits” to represent Donker Curtius in talks with the Japanese government.⁸

1860, September

Donker Curtius visits and stays in Kanagawa. De Graeff van Polsbroek is told that Donker Curtius will leave Japan.⁹ It appears that he never stayed at Chooji?

1861, January 15 [19 in Journaal]

Henry Heusken, Dutch-American interpreter at the U.S. legation, is killed. Soon after, the French and British legations move to Yokohama. Townsend Harris stays in Edo.

De Graeff van Polsbroek is asked by the Japanese government to move from Kanagawa to Yokohama. He agrees on the condition that the Japanese government build a consulate based on his drawing. Ten days later he moves to the office of his company (founded with German businessman Textor in 1859. He left the company in March). The Consulate is completed “three months later” (April, 1861?).¹⁰ The consuls of other countries soon follow De Graeff van Polsbroek’s example and move from Kanagawa to Yokohama.

[Detailed description of the Consulate on pages 57, 58.]

1861, March 30

D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, appointed Consul in Kanagawa (page 68).

1861, July 4

Dutch Consul-General Mr. J. K. de Wit visits De Graeff van Polsbroek in Yokohama.¹¹ De Wit had accompanied British Consul-General Sir John Rutherford Alcock on his trip from Nagasaki to Edo.

According to De Graeff van Polsbroek De Wit never visited Edo, but according to Bewogen Betrekkingen he did so three times (page 190).

1861, July 5

The night after British Consul-General Sir John Rutherford Alcock’s arrival at the British legation at Tōzen-ji in Edo, samurai of the Mito domain attack it. Diplomats George Morrison and Laurence Oliphant are wounded. Two British mariners are killed. Rutherford Alcock moves back to Yokohama.

In March 1862, Rutherford Alcock goes home on leave and is replaced by British Lieutenant-Colonel Edward St. John Neale. He was the British Chargé d’affaires in Japan in 1862–1863. The British legation in Edo is once again attacked in July 1862 and Neale also moves to Yokohama. Alcock returned to Japan in 1864.

1862, September 14

Namamugi Incident. Description on page 60 of Journaal.

During 1862, De Graeff van Polsbroek visits Edo, but only uses Chooji to change clothes.¹²

1863

[Bas wrote: Van Polsbroek verplaatst het Nederlands consulaat naar Yokohama vanuit Kanagawa. So, this is the official move? He already moved in 1861.]

1863, June 2

De Graeff van Polsbroek visits Nagasaki. The following day, De Wit hands over his authority to De Graeff van Polsbroek. De Wit leaves Japan on June 4.¹³

1863, July 10

De Graeff van Polsbroek leaves Nagasaki on the Dutch warship Medusa.¹⁴ On July 11, the ship is attacked in the Strait of Shimonoseki by the ships and the batteries of the daimyō of Chōshū, Mōri Takachika. Four sailors are killed in action, five are wounded. The ship arrives in Yokohama on July 17.

1863, November 16

De Graeff van Polsbroek is officially appointed Political Agent and Consul-General.¹⁵

[IMPORTANT: Bas wrote July 7…]

1864, October 13

There is a fight when De Graeff van Polsbroek and Chancellor Metman visit Chooji temple for four days (13th through 17th). Several Japanese are killed. The commander of the Japanese guards insists it was a squabble between Japanese. But De Graeff van Polsbroek believes it was an attack on the Dutch legation.¹⁶

[IMPORTANT: Bas wrote (- Polsbroek laat aan Bakufu weten dat hij in Chooji gaat wonen (p105 Bakumatsu) – check bron!) But if he had moved to Chooji why was he visiting for 4 days?]

1864, November 21

Two British officers, Major Baldwin and Lieutenant Bird, are killed at Kamakura. Description on pages 64 and 65. De Graeff van Polsbroek writes that since August 1859 he has “followed the corpses of thirteen Europeans, murdered and cut into pieces by Japanese persons wearing two swords, to the cemetery.”

1866, November 26

[Fire destroys Yokohama. The Dutch consulate also burned down. De Graeff Polsbroek lost his house and all the archives of the Consulate. Page 24 Journaal]

1867, July 2

One of the Japanese guards shoots at De Graeff van Polsbroek and misses.¹⁷ His letter to the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs is datelined Edo. Is De Graeff van Polsbroek now finally living at Chooji?

1867, August 15

Together with Dr. Gratama, De Graeff van Polsbroek takes a tour by horse drawn carriage to Asakusa in Tokyo. There the Japanese throw stones at their carriage. In their escape they run over many of the people.¹⁸

1868, January 31

De Graeff van Polsbroek escapes from Osaka.¹⁹

1868, July 8

D. de Graeff van Polsbroek, appointed Minister-Resident (page 68).

1870, January 12

De Graeff van Polsbroek resigns.²⁰ [Arrived in the Netherlands for a leave of absence on April 27, 1869. Had left Japan in February 1869.]

OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS

Until when was the legation at Benten? Through 1879, many maps indicate the location. The latest map to show the legation here dates from 1882, but other maps from the same year and later years do not mention the legation anymore.

Detail of Shinsen Yokohama Meisaizu, published in 1879. The Dutch legation is clearly marked. The French legation has moved away, and the German location has moved in on the right side.

Detail of Yokohama Kaisei Shinzu, published in 1879.

Detail of Kaisei Yokohama Zenzu from 1882.

Detail of Eiri Meisho Yokohama Shinzu from 1882.

Detail of Shinkoku Yokohama Ku Annai Zenzu from 1882.

Detail of Hanken Menkyo Doban Yokohama Chizu from 1885.

REFERENCES

¹ Moeshart, Herman J. (1987). Journaal van Jonkheer Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek 1857-1870. Van Gorcum & Comp. B.V., 53. ISBN: 9023222571.

² Ibid., 54.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid., 55.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Ibid., 56.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Ibid., 57.

¹¹ Ibid., 58.

¹¹ Ibid., 61.

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Ibid., 62.

¹⁴ Ibid.

¹⁵ Ibid., 64.

¹⁶ Ibid.

¹⁷ Ibid., 66.

¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁹ Ibid., 67.

²⁰ Ibid., 68.

公開：2021年04月19日
編集：2022年11月02日