A Pioneer in Yokohama: A Dutchman's Adventures in the New Treaty Port

In relating the story of his life on the island of Deshima and in the port of Yokohama during the late 1850s, Dutch merchant C T Assendelft de Coningh provides both an unprecedented eyewitness account of daily life in the Japanese treaty ports and a unique perspective on the economic, military, and political forces the Western imperial powers brought to bear on newly opened Japan. A general Introduction provides essential historical and cultural background as well as a brief biography of De Coningh; substantial footnotes explain those terms, names, and cultural references that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. Thirteen illustrations are included, as are a chronology of events, a bibliography, and an index.