Up until the nineteenth century, Japan tried to keep foreigners and foreign interests in Japan at bay, to say the least.
A turning point in that history culminated in 1868 when Japan had foreign technicians in a variety of disciplines on hand to help modernize the country. It was still a feudal entity but desirous of entering the international scene of manufacturing and marketing.
Japan had its own people travelling to the West to be trained in the techniques of the modern economy.
