Introduction

The study of the oyatoi gaikokujin (foreign employees) in Meiji Japan has a long and honorable history going back to the very beginnings of the phenomenon. Professor Emeritus Ardath W. Burks, of Rutgers University, is clearly the major figure among contemporary Western yatoi specialists. Professor Burks has not only written widely in this area, but has encouraged younger scholars to work in the field. Professor Burks was responsible for what was, to the best of knowledge, the first yatoi conference held in the United States, at Rutgers University in 1967. The great success enjoyed by that conference led to a resurgence of interest in the role played by foreign employees in early modern Japan. The extremely well-attended Fukui conference received extensive national coverage in both the print and electronic media in Japan. The conference was characterized by the meticulous planning and superb hospitality that one has learned to associate with conferences held in Japan.