著者

坂内 知子

出版者

神田外語大学

雑誌

異文化コミュニケーション研究 (ISSN:09153446)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.15, pp.83-103, 2003-03

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The Iwakura Embassy was the first and last state embassy sent for the purpose of seeking a vision for future Japan. In the beginning, it had three aims for visiting the United States and eleven European countries: the first one was to be official visits to deliver imperial letters to the heads of the countries with which Japan had concluded treaties before Meiji Revolution. The second one was to make political efforts to improve the conditions for the reconclusion of the unequal treaties in the near future. The third one was the most realistic: so that the top leaders of the Meiji government could see the realities of advanced Europe (including the United States) and to learn the secret of modernization for Japan. Regarding the second and third aims, there have been a lot of research and thinking. However, the first goal has been taken for granted. Having the audience of a country's president or emperor is a most effective occasion to consider and become familiar with the characteristics of that nation. In this paper, I will study the audience received by the Iwakura Embassy in Imperial Russia as a subject of intercultural communication, and examine how the Japanese emissaries perceived the essense of that ceremony, and what influence was exerted over Japan through them.