Asia PacificEvent

Japan ends extraterritoriality for Western nationals

When: 1899
Where: Yokohama
Episodes: 1

Japan rescinded extraterritorial privileges for Western nations, ending the system of consular courts. The Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, signed in 1894, came into force on 17 July 1899, subjecting British subjects to Japanese law. The British Court for Japan, established in Yokohama in 1879, ceased jurisdiction on this date, though pending cases continued until early 1900.

Episodes

17 July 1899 · YokohamaTreaty Implementation
The Anglo-Japanese Treaty came into force on 17 July 1899, ending extraterritoriality for British subjects in Japan.

Background and detail

Implementation. The treaty came into force on 17 July 1899, five years after signing. On this date, the jurisdiction of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan, the British Court for Japan, and consular courts ceased. British subjects became subject to Japanese laws and courts. Pending cases filed before the end of July 1899 were allowed to continue.

Sources

Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-04
British Court for Japan Wikipedia, revision of 2026-02-24

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.