Hired Foreigners: The True Story of Martial Relief from the End of the Edo Period to the Beginning of the Meiji Era (Bakumatsu kara Meiji early years)

Hired Foreigners: The True Story of Martial Relief from the End of the Edo Period to the Beginning of the Meiji Era (Bakumatsu kara Meiji early years)

The case of Martial, who was working at the legation in France and was in need, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs providing relief money on the grounds of the face of the legation shows that the field of modern Japanese diplomacy was managed based on extremely practical decisions. The motivation for the relief was not individual sympathy or humanitarian considerations, but rather national expediency in order not to damage the face of the legation abroad.

From the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji era, Japanese legations abroad were weak financially and institutionally, with inadequate security for their staff. However, legations were the face of the Japanese state in local society, and the impoverishment of their staff could be perceived as a loss of trust in the state. Exposing diplomats and officials to poverty was fraught with the risk of giving the impression that Japan was an immature nation.

The expression "the face of the legation" clearly indicates that the essence of the problem was not the hardships of individuals, but the maintenance of the prestige of the legation as a whole. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to bail out Martial as a practical decision, judging that if it left him unchecked, Japan's diplomatic institutions themselves would be disrespected.

This response demonstrates that modern diplomacy was supported not only by ideals and institutionalism, but also by pragmatism to prevent failures in the field. This decision, in which the lives of individual diplomats and the physical appearance of the nation were directly linked, quietly reveals the tension and urgency of Japan, which was in the process of trying to build credibility in the international community.