Henry Willard Denison
The Boston Globe, July 3, 1914
Born	(1846-05-11)May 11, 1846 Guildhall, Vermont, United States
Died	July 3, 1914(1914-07-03) (aged 68) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	American
Occupation	Lawyer

Henry Willard Denison (May 11, 1846 – July 3, 1914) was an American diplomat and lawyer, active inMeiji period Japan.^[1]

Denison was born inGuildhall, Vermont, and spent his early years inLancaster, New Hampshire. He was a graduate ofColumbia University, and went toGeorge Washington University to study law in 1868, but did not graduate before he left for Japan in 1869 while working as a clerk for the Revenue and Customs Department inWashington D.C.^[1] In an 1875 letter he indicates he worked in the U.S. Treasury Department from 1864-1869.

In 1869, Denison was appointed Vice Consul at the United States Consulate atYokohama, Japan,^[1] where his duties were primarily to serve aspublic prosecutor in the consulate court. At the time, the Japanese government's jurisdiction over foreigners in Japan was limited by theextraterritoriality provisions of theunequal treaties. On July 14, 1875, he wrote U.S. Minister John A. Bingham, whom he and his wife knew well, indicating that he wanted help in securing a position with the Japanese government, preferable in the Ministry of Finance or in the Foreign Office. His contract expired in 1876, but at the recommendation of American MinisterJohn A. Bingham, he stayed on in Yokohama to practice law. Denison came to the notice of the Japanese government for his skill as a lawyer, and in 1880, at the recommendation of the American Minister Bingham], he accepted a post as aforeign advisor to the Japanese government. He was immediately tasked the providing an explanation on the meaning of theElements of International Law a book oninternational law that was widely used in Asia during that time.

Although the position of foreign adviser was normally for a three- or five-year contract, Denison remained as a legal advisor to theJapanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, until his death in 1914.

As legal adviser, he worked closely withŌkuma Shigenobu andMutsu Munemitsu towards the revision of the unequal treaties and elimination of extraterritoriality. He also wrote legal opinions in defense of the Japanese position in theFirst Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and assisting in the drafting of theTreaty of Shimonoseki.^[1] However, for his failure to predict theTriple Intervention, which cost Japan much of its territorial gains in that war, he came under strong criticism from hardliners in the military. He was supported by Mutsu Munemitsu andItō Hirobumi

He also served as a Japanese judge in thePermanent Court of Arbitration atThe Hague along withIchiro Motono.^[2] Denison subsequently assistedKomura Jutaro in negotiating theAnglo-Japanese Alliance. During theRusso-Japanese War (1904–1905),^[1] he travelled withKaneko Kentarō to the United States, and assisted in the drafting of theTreaty of Portsmouth.^[1]

Denison suffered astroke in late June 1914 and was hospitalized atSt. Luke's International Hospital and died on July 3.^[1] He was given astate funeral on July 6, attended by the American Ambassador to Japan,George W. Guthrie.^[3] His grave is at theAoyama Cemetery in Tokyo and significantly not in the foreign section of that cemetery.

For his services, he was accorded theOrder of the Rising Sun (2nd class) in 1895,^[1] and theOrder of the Sacred Treasures (1st class) in 1896, which came with a 10,000 yen monetary stipend. In 1902, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, and was the first foreigner to receive that decoration,^[4] which came with a 15,000 Yen stipend. He was posthumously awarded theOrder of the Chrysanthemum.^[1]

FuturePrime Minister of JapanHara Takashi, commissioned a bronze bust of Denison, displayed in the entry to the Diplomatic Training Center in the city ofSagamihara, near Yokohama.^[1]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2017)

TheFletcher School of Law and Diplomacy established the chairHenry Willard Denison Professor of History in 1981, withJohn Curtis Perry being its inaugural holder.^[1][5][6]

• Brooks, Barbara.Japan's imperial diplomacy: consuls, treaty ports, and war in China, 1895. University of Hawaii Press (2000).ISBN 0-8248-2325-7
• Dawes, Henry L.Encyclopedia of Massachusetts. Bibliolife (2009)ISBN 1-113-70251-6 pages 103-104
• Hamilton, Keith.The practice of diplomacy: its evolution, theory, and administration. Routledge (1994)ISBN 0-415-10474-2

• Brief biography by Russell Bastedo
• Brief description of Denison's part at the Russo-Japanese peace conference in 1905Archived March 17, 2016, at theWayback Machine

• 1846 births
• 1914 deaths
• Diplomats for the United States
• People from Guildhall, Vermont
• Foreign advisors to the government in Meiji-era Japan
• American expatriates in Japan
• Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun
• Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure
• Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
• American judges of international courts and tribunals
• 19th-century American judges
• Columbia College (New York) alumni
• 19th-century American lawyers
• Burials at Aoyama Cemetery

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