Among the countries urging for the opening of the country at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate government, was France. A French envoy visited Japan in 1858 and concluded the Japan-France Treaty of Amity and Commerce, beginning relations between France and Japan.
It is well known that lead mainly on OGURI Tadamasa (1827-1868) and KURIMOTO Joun (1822-1897), the Edo Shogunate intensified contact with the French minister plenipotentiary to Japan Léon Roches (1809-1901) and sought to construct ironworks and introduce military technology, and an envoy was dispatched to the 1867 International Exposition in Paris. In order to obtain western knowledge under the state of national isolation, knowledge of Dutch had been necessary, however at this time the necessity of English and French grew.
For the new government after the Meiji Restoration, the revision of the unequal treaties concluded under the former Shogunate government was a major issue. With the high demand for learning as much as possible about Western society, diplomacy and other topics, a number of people went to Europe and visited France as members of the Iwakura Mission, or as students overseas or diplomats.
