Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt

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Gustave Duchesne de Bellecourt (1817–1881) was a French diplomat who worked mainly in Asia, especially Japan. He was the first French official representative in Japan from 1859 to 1864, after the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and Japan.

Earlier, he served as Secretary of the French legation in China in 1857 under Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros and took part in the Second Opium War. In 1858 he arrived in Japan as secretary of the mission for the Franco-Japanese Treaty of Trade and Amity, led by Gros. On 6 September 1859, he became the first French representative in Japan with the title Premier ministre plénipotentiaire de France au Japon, assisted by the translator Father Girard.

Duchesne de Bellecourt played an important political role in Japan during the late 1850s and 1860s, working alongside Western diplomats such as Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Townsend Harris, Rutherford Alcock, and Max von Brandt. Although these men had rivalries and different views, they had to cooperate in the chaotic early years.

In 1860, Duchesne’s servant was attacked with a sword in front of the French legation at the Temple of Saikai-ji in Edo. In 1861, Duchesne was promoted to ambassador and generally sided with Alcock against the Bakufu (the shogunate).

In 1863, he helped negotiate reparations after the Namamugi incident, where foreigners were killed by a group from Satsuma. Having witnessed Western interventions in China, he advocated using force to manage relations with Japan. He supported the French intervention in the 1863 Bombardment of Shimonoseki and the British intervention at Kagoshima in August 1863.

In 1864, Léon Roches succeeded him in Tokyo, marking a period of stronger French involvement. Duchesne de Bellecourt was later sent to Tunis as Consul-General. He was awarded the Legion of Honor.