Kawaguchi foreign settlement

[1] The Ansei Treaties of 1858 decided that Osaka would be opened (allowed foreigners to do business) along with Hakodate, Tokyo, Yokohama, Niigata, Kobe, and Nagasaki.

[2] Even though it was the smallest of all the foreign settlements at the time (only about 25600 square meters),[1] these lots were immediately auctioned off to eager Western buyers; in the end, out of the 26 wards, 13 went to the British, 4 went to the Germans and Americans, 2 for the French and Dutch, and 1 for the Belgians.

According to literature at the time, eucalyptus and rubber trees were planted on the sides of the wide paved streets, English-style cottage homes and Spanish-style stone and brick buildings were built.

[1] The Meiji government explained that even though the ban on Christianity is not abolished, the freedom of evangelical activities were permitted in the foreign settlement.

These missionaries, initially denied settlement during the auctions of 1868, rebuilt empty lots left behind with churches, hospitals, orphanages, and more.

The only company office that remained until the dissolution of the settlement in 1899 was the C&J Favre-Brandt, which specialized in pocket watches and industrial machinery; it is said to have sold weapons to the Meiji government during the Satsuma Rebellion.

However, due to the intensification of the Sino-Japanese War and the bombing of Osaka, many Chinese businessmen dispersed throughout Japan or left to return to China.

[3] After World War II, as the Chinese left the settlement, Kawaguchi became a warehouse district, where companies like Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co. and Sumitomo Co. built concrete buildings.