Vorträge Mittwoch, 11. November 2026, 18:30–20:00 Prue Holstein: „Two German Merchants Navigating an Opaque Environment in Treaty Port Japan“

In 1860, the young Hamburg born Carl Nickel arrived in Nagasaki from Shanghai six years after Japan had been forced to reopen its doors to the west by the American Commodore Matthew Perry.

In 1858 Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, the United States of America and Russia forced Japan to sign unequal treaties with extraterritorial privileges establishing treaty ports where foreign merchants could reside outside Japanese control. Until 1863 when the Prussia-Japan treaty was signed, German speaking merchants were in Japan illegally. In 1879 Nickel moved to Kobe and established his cargo handling company becoming a waterfront empire by the 1890s. In 1897, his relative, Christian Holstein joined him to become his successor. In 1899 the treaties were revised and foreign merchants now came under Japanese jurisdiction.

Through multi-archival research conducted in Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom, Dr. Holstein will talk about the inventive ways and often unexpected outcomes as the two German merchants, her late husband’s father and his much older cousin navigated an opaque and sometimes anti-foreign environment managing their relationships with their Japanese and British counterparts and authorities in turbulent times.

Prue Holstein has an MBA, University of Melbourne and a PhD in Japanese Studies, Monash University and currently holds an adjunct position in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University. Her career was spent promoting Australian business interests in both private sector and senior government diplomatic roles in Japan and the USA and spent a total of 14 years in Japan commencing in the mid-1970s. She is the author of The German Experience of Japan’s Treaty Port System: A Case Study of C. Nickel & Co. Ltd. 1860-1923 published by Routledge, 2026.

WINTERZEIT!! Winter Time
Zeit: 18.30-20.00 Uhr (Japan), 10.30-12.00 Uhr (CET/MEZ)
Zoom-Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83994571569?pwd=WhukQVkAx4hacChD5uyMZli7Lg8uZQ.1
Meeting ID: 839 9457 1569
Passcode: 513019