Townsend Harris was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan.
18 Facts About Townsend Harris
2.
Townsend Harris negotiated the "Harris Treaty" between the US and Japan and is credited as the diplomat who first opened Shogunate Japan to foreign trade and culture in the Edo period.
3.
Townsend Harris was portrayed by John Wayne in the 1958 historical adventure drama film The Barbarian and the Geisha.
4.
Townsend Harris moved early to New York City, where he became a successful merchant and importer from China.
5.
In 1846 Townsend Harris joined the New York City Board of Education, serving as its president until 1848.
6.
Townsend Harris was an avid and critical reader and taught himself French, Italian and Spanish.
7.
Townsend Harris founded the Free Academy of the City of New York, which later became the City College of New York, to provide education to the city's working people.
8.
Townsend Harris played an important political role in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, alongside fellow Western diplomats Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Max von Brandt, Rutherford Alcock and Gustave Duchesne, Prince de Bellecourt.
9.
Townsend Harris demanded the courtesies due to an accredited envoy and refused to deliver his president's letter to anyone but the Shogun in Edo, and to him personally.
10.
Townsend Harris served during the first Japanese Embassy to the United States, during which a false report reached the US of his death.
11.
Townsend Harris was favorably impressed by his experiences in Japan at the end of its self-imposed period of isolation.
12.
Townsend Harris returned to New York in 1861 after his eventful and successful period as envoy and ambassador to Japan.
13.
Griffis felt that Townsend Harris had not appreciated the extent of his favorable effect in Japan from his work in the five years as envoy, as Griffis later wrote in a 1919 article in The New York Times.
14.
The play was successful in Japan, reflecting how positively Townsend Harris was viewed in Japan.
15.
The actor playing Townsend Harris was made up to look like Townsend Harris, based on a photograph held in Tokyo.
16.
Townsend Harris died in New York City on February 25,1878, at age 73.
17.
Townsend Harris is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
18.
Townsend Harris was portrayed by John Wayne in the 1958 movie The Barbarian and the Geisha, directed by John Huston.