ABSTRACT
From the mid-nineteenth century to the turn of the twentieth century, trade was conducted throughout East Asia not only with Europe and the United States but also between open ports and their hinterlands and coastal regions. Multilateral trading activity was based on commercial treaties brought about by changes in the Chinese tributary system due to factors within the region. 1 After its opening by the West in the 1850s, Japan created economic ties with East Asia by vigorous participation in the long-established commercial networks of Chinese merchants and overseas Chinese. 2
