Introduction

Since the 18th century when the Bering Strait was determined as the demarcation line between the Eurasian and American continents, the geopolitics of the North Pacific region became the focus of a new frontier of “globalization” of that time. It became inevitable that the governments of both the Russian Empire and Tokugawa Japan would begin to keep an eye on each other, though their contacts were rare and sporadic. Russian moves to the Eurasian Far East, and eventually even to North America, worried Tokugawa Japan, partly because there were few direct relations from the 17th century. Interest in and eventual explorations of the Kurile Archipelago were taken by various European powers around 1800.

Among others, the Russian expedition into the Far East was activated in the form of the Russian-American Company for the development and commercial interests of these regions. However, the activities of this company were noticed by the Japanese side and alarmist voices were raised by the end of the 18th century, particularly from intellectuals and the ruling samurai of the northern part of Japan, as well as the Tokugawa Shogunate. A medical doctor from Northern Japan, Kudō Heisuke wrote a famous pamphlet on the threat of “Red Ezo” (Russians) in 1781.

This was followed by the expedition of Russians who asked for the opening of trade and diplomacy with Tokugawa Japan. Adam Laxman, a lieutenant, came to Nemuro in 1792, to promote a trade relationship with the Matsumae clan that governed the Hokkaido region at that time, as is pervasively argued by Professor Michiko Ikuta.