Most Japanese lack basic knowledge of modern Japanese history. This article argues that long-standing media dominance shaped this ignorance, and uses a Sankei Shimbun feature on Enomoto Takeaki’s negotiations with Russia to reveal overlooked historical facts and Japan’s diplomatic achievements.

Most Japanese people can be said to know almost nothing about Japan’s modern history.
2016-11-26.
It is no exaggeration to say that most Japanese know virtually nothing about modern Japanese history.
The reason such an absurd situation has come about is that, until August of the year before last, Asahi Shimbun effectively dominated Japan, and this too is no exaggeration.
I read the Asahi, the Nikkei, and the Sankei Shimbun, and I can state without exaggeration that the Sankei Shimbun now carries the most fact-based and therefore the most useful articles.
The following is from a serialized feature article published on yesterday’s front page.
Enomoto Takeaki Wins the Entire Kuril Islands.
March 8, 1875, Meiji 8, in Saint Petersburg, then the capital of Russia.
Enomoto Takeaki, appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, faced Pyotr Stremoukhov, Director of the Asian Bureau of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Enomoto said, “All of the Kuril Islands should be ceded.”
Stremoukhov replied, “Do you even desire Shumshu Island, the largest among them?”
Enomoto answered, “Not only Shumshu, but all the islands stretching all the way to Kamchatka should be ceded.”
The negotiations with Stremoukhov dragged on endlessly, but Enomoto persisted, and in the end secured the transfer of the entire Kuril Islands extending to the Kamchatka Peninsula in exchange for relinquishing Sakhalin.
Enomoto signed the Treaty of Saint Petersburg with the Russian plenipotentiary Alexander Gorchakov on May 7.
Enomoto, a former commander of the Tokugawa shogunate navy, had been defeated in the Hakodate War and imprisoned, but his life was saved by two manuscript volumes of “International Maritime Law and Diplomacy” that he had acquired while studying in the Netherlands.
The Meiji government had only just been established, and few had any knowledge of diplomacy or international treaties.
When Kuroda Kiyotaka learned of the manuscripts owned by Enomoto and asked his acquaintance Fukuzawa Yukichi to translate them, Fukuzawa read them and said,
“This law of nations is extremely important for the navy. The only person who can translate it is Enomoto himself, who directly attended the lectures. If we cannot rely on Enomoto, it would be a great loss for the nation.”
Kuroda worked tirelessly to petition for Enomoto’s pardon, and Enomoto later went on to serve as a key figure in the Meiji government.
His negotiations with Russia over territory were among his greatest achievements.
To be continued.