Beyond Diplomacy.

From 28 Sep 2008 to 30 Oct 2008

29 Sept-31 Oct 2008. For the 150th anniversary of the opening of the diplomatic relations between Japan and the UK. On show are rare photo panels, original documents and artefacts, which commemorate 26 August 1858, when James Bruce, eighth Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, was welcomed in Japan to sign a treaty which initiated diplomatic links between Japan and England. This was the first time a Briton had set foot on Japanese soil since 1600, when William Adams, a navigator from Kent, was shipwrecked there. Soon afterwards Japan closed its borders to foreigners for 250 years