ABSTRACT
Contemporary research on yatoi was initiated by Japanese. Of the many who could be mentioned, the late Saigusa Hiroto and his colleagues should be remembered for their fine work in the history of Japanese modern technology and Ogata Hiroyasu in education. The person who provided the impetus to wide-scale exploration of the theme is Umetani Noboru, whose Source Materials on Foreign Employees is of great value. A hundred and twenty years ago, Japan and especially the decision-making segment, plunged into future shock. In the words of one of the bakufu advisers, the mist that gathered over China threatened to settle as hoar frost over Japan. Officially, private foreigners in Japan were not called yatoi. While kanyatoi (government employee) and shiyatoi (private employee) are used in Foreign Ministry records, the use of yatoi by itself, that is, oyatoi or oyatoi gaikokujin invariably refers to government employees.
