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Hendrick Conrad Joannes Heusken (January 20, 1832 – January 16, 1861) was a Dutch-American interpreter for the first United States consulate in Japan, established at Gyokusen-ji in Shimoda, Shizuoka in the late Bakumatsu period. He played an important role in the negotiations for the "Harris Treaty", which opened commercial relations between Japan and the United States, and his assassination caused a minor diplomatic crisis between Japan and the various Western powers.
Arriving in New York City, Hendrick changed his name to Henry, and eventually became a naturalized citizen. But his life in America was difficult as well, and he was sometimes unable to even afford meals as he moved from job to job based on his contacts with the local Dutch community. In 1855, these contacts alerted him to the fact that Townsend Harris, who had been appointed the first United States Consul-General to Japan, was looking for a personal secretary and interpreter in the only European language the Japanese were familiar with.
Negotiations began with the local governors of Shimoda, as Heusken worked closely with Harris, being required to translate every document exchanged and interpret at every meeting. Harris insisted on traveling to the capital city of Edo to present his consular commission and deliver a letter from President Franklin Pierce to the Shogun personally. This was strenuously objected to, resulting in over 20 conferences, of 3 to 5 hours each, at which Heusken had to interpret concerning that topic alone. Finally, permission was granted, and on December 7, 1857, Heusken was present at the first meeting between an official diplomatic representative of the United States and the ruler of Japan.
Difficult, prolonged negotiations continued in both Shimoda and Edo, eventually resulting in Japan's signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce on July 29, 1858. Immediately afterwards, Harris lent Heusken's services as interpreter to the recently arrived British minister Lord Elgin, who wished to enact a similar agreement. With the path now greatly eased due to precedent, the Anglo-Japanese treaty was negotiated quickly and signed on August 26. Lord Elgin was grateful for the assistance, writing to Harris: "I have found Mr. Heusken not only well qualified as an Interpreter, but in all other matters which I have had to refer to him, both intelligent and obliging in the highest degree".
In January 1859, the American consulate was elevated to a legation and relocated to Zenpuku-ji in Edo. Heusken quickly became one of the most publicly visible foreigners among the multiple western delegations now present in the city. He frequently rode the streets on horseback, a privilege that was traditionally reserved for the samurai caste. This offense to the sensibilities of some anti-Western locals resulted in multiple outbreaks of violence involving Heusken, including an attempted stoning by a mob while riding with the Dutch Consul Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek. (2026). 9789811073687, Springer Nature. ISBN 9789811073687
Harris wrote to Washington in his official reports that Heusken was kind and amiable in temper, never showing violence to the Japanese, and a universal favorite. However, in his personal diary, he complained that Heusken was lackadaisical, stating "I believe that Mr. Heusken only remembers when to eat, drink and sleep,—any other affairs rest very lightly on his memory". Harris, 28 years Heusken's senior, also criticized his cavalier attitude towards safety, going about unarmed and at night.
Count Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg, head of the Eulenburg Expedition which was in Japan for the purpose of negotiating a commercial treaty between Prussia and Japan similar to treaties secured by the other European powers, requested that Harris loan Heusken to serve as interpreter during their negotiations. Japanese-German Relations, 1895-1945: war, diplomacy and public opinion By Christian W. Spang, Rolf-Harald. Wippich, p. 1 Heusken obliged and proved to be indispensable to the Prussian Legation, as once again he interpreted at all meetings and all documents passed through his hands. For several months, having become friends with many of the Prussians, Heusken fell into a consistent habit of dining and visiting with them almost nightly, not returning home until after 8 o'clock.
After having dinner with Count Eulenburg on the night of January 15, 1861, Heusken was returning to his quarters at Zenpuku-ji accompanied by three mounted officers and four footmen bearing lanterns. The party was suddenly ambushed by seven shishi from Satsuma Domain, including . Despite his escort, Heusken suffered mortal wounds to both sides of his body in the fight. He mounted a horse and galloped about 200 yards to the American Legation, where he was taken inside and treated by surgeons summoned from the English and Prussian Legations. Despite their best efforts, shortly after midnight on January 16, he succumbed to his wounds.
Immediately after the funeral, most western diplomats retreated from Edo to Yokohama and brought ashore greater numbers of French and British soldiers for protection as trade dwindled. The "yet unpunished and unatoned homicide of Mr. Heusken" was cited by William H. Seward as a hindering factor in relations between the U.S. and Japan during this period. William H. Seward to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 1 August 1861. U.S. National Archives Identifier 6158603. No one was ever convicted of the murder, and the only reparation made by the government of Japan was a $10,000 payment to Heusken's mother, who had been reliant on her son's income due to long-term illness.
Heusken kept a diary (written in French) during his time in Japan, which was translated and published in 1964 as "Japan Journal 1855-1861". A lifelong romantic, he waxed poetic regarding "these beneficial beings called women," and had at least one son, with a Japanese woman named Otsuru, whose fate is not known.
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