Bankoku koho (wakokubon) (call number: Documents relating to Miyoji Ito: 215)

At the end of the Qing dynasty, after defeat in the Opium Wars, some people in the intellectual class in China felt it necessary to be well-informed about the situation in other countries. Just then, it was permitted for Chinese to be a Christian by such agreements as the Treaty of Tianjin and the Treaty of Beijing. Many missionaries visited China and, while they were engaged in missionary work, translated Western books in various fields into Chinese and published them to introduce studies and cultures of western countries.

Bankoku koho, is one of those books. It was translated by William Martin, an American missionary, from the "Elements of international law" written by Henry Wheaton, and published in Beijing in 1864. William Martin was also a teacher of English and international law in Keishi-Daigakudo, which is now the Beijing University, and became the president of the school.

In 1865, soon after its publication in China, "Bankoku koho" was reissued in Japan, with Japanese readings added, by kaiseijo, an official center of the Tokugawa Shogunate for the study of Western learning. In those days, at the end of the Shogunate, very few people could read books in western languages, and therefore "Bankoku koho" was really welcomed especially by the authorities, who realized keenly the lack of their knowledge of international law in dealing with diplomatic problems. It was highly regarded from that time until the middle of the Meiji Era, which followed the Tokugawa Shogunate, as a textbook and reference book in many schools.

The "Bankoku koho" in the National Diet Library was once owned by Miyoji Itô, one of the men who drew up some laws including the Meiji Constitution. It is not the first edition of the book. It was originally in six volumes and was later rebound into two volumes.