Alexander Von Siebold was one of translators who were hired by Japanese government. Alexander was from Germany, so his mother language was German. However, he made a big achievement as a Japanese-English translator.
He came to Japan in 1859 with his father, Phillip Von Siebold, when he was 12 years old. From then, he started to work as a Japanese-English translator in Imperial Russian Navy. Of course, English was not his native language, so at first, his English skill was not enough. However, it was brushed up in his work.
He was appointed official interpreter to the British consulate in Edo when he was 15 years old. He assisted British consul in negotiations pertaining to the Namamugi incident, Anglo-Satsuma War and Bombardment of Shimonoseki [all decisive incidents leading to the Meiji Restoration - Ed].
From 1870, he was sent to Frankfurt and Wien by Japanese government to negotiate. And in 1875, he became an official interpreter for the Japanese Ministry of Finance. He assisted the Japanese government and succeeded in concluding Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation. Thanks to the treaty, Japan revised the unequal treaties [the Harris Treaties of 1858 opened several of Japan's ports to trade at rates unfavorable to Japan and contained extraterritoriality clauses. Japan was keen for them to be revised as soon as possible - Ed].
Why did a German-speaking 12-year-old boy start to work as a Japanese-English translator?
The reason is that most Japanese in Dejima spoke Dutch and English speakers were in demand. At that time, there were a lot of transactions with people from Netherland, so people could speak only Japanese and Dutch. Even Commodore Perry came to Japan with Dutch speaking translator. So, the Japanese government really wanted English-Japanese translator.
Speaking of Alexander’s family, his father and his brother also came to Japan. His father was a doctor in Germany, but he was interested in the environment, such as biology and geography, so he came to Japan. He was kicked out off Japan because he tried to take a Japanese map to his home country. It was illegal in Japan to take Japanese things to other countries. After he got permission by the Japanese government, he came back to Japan again. Alexander’s brother, Heinrich, also came to Japan to study Japanese biology, geography and folklore, and he got married to Japanese woman.
In discussion, I gave two questions to audience:
1. If you were a person from Western country who had already had work like Phillip, would you want to go to Japan in Tokugawa period?
Most of audience answered “NO”. They said “because Japanese people seem barbarous from Western people’s perspective.” And some people said “living in Japan was really difficult so I would keep working in home country.” On the other hand, some people who answered YES said “I would go there because I would want to spread my idea and knowledge.”
2. If you were Phillip, would you let Alexander go to Japan?
Again, most of them answered NO. They said that Phillip was kicked out off Japan so if I were Phillip, I would not want my son to go to Japan. Another reason is that Phillip was a doctor, so Alexander could be a doctor too.
People in Meiji period called foreign people “oyatoi gaikokujin” with irony [something like "honorably employed foreigners" - Ed]. However, foreign people influenced Japanese a lot and contributed to developing Japan.
As you read the answers above, most people think that if they were Western, they wouldn’t have gone to Japan. I suppose that it was true for people of that time. But in that situation, “oyatoi gaikokujin” came to Japan and worked. Even though they got big salary, I think it’s amazing. And Alexander’s career was quite special compared with others’ because he started to work in Japan when he was only 12 years old! From researching Alexander’s career, I could know how serious problem the Japanese government had in terms of diplomacy.
References
Arata, I. (1937, Feb). Alexander Von Siebold. Historiography. p627-p667.
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/els/110007472064.pdf?id=ART0009296306&type=pdf&lang=jp&host=cinii&order_no=&ppv_type=0&lang_sw=&no=1406526152&cp=
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2014). Information about diplomacy. Retrieved from
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/qa/meiji_02.html
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