Signed Photograph of President Theodore Roosevelt to One of Japan’s First Diplomatic Representatives to the United States

After the Meiji Restoration in Japan in 1868 in which feudalism and the Shogunate system were abolished, Japan quickly modernized. Soon an increasing number of Japanese traveled to Europe and the United States, including official delegations, merchants, students and immigrants. As a corollary to this, the Meiji government saw the need to create diplomatic delegations stationed in foreign countries to develop Japan's trade and international relationships. With that in mind, it assigned an American, Mr. Charles Walcott Brooks, a U.S. national, as the first Consul of Japan in the U.S. in 1870. This "Consulate of Japan" opened in San Francisco and started service on August 25, 1870. It is the oldest Japanese government establishment in the U.S. This Consulate was established even a month earlier than the Legation (currently called Embassy) of Japan in Washington.

In 1898, as the Japanese presence in San Francisco was growing, Count H. Mutsu arrived to take over as the first Japanese national to run the Consulate. He was the son of the Japanese foreign minister.

Signed photograph, in the original Pach Brothers presentation, circa 1903, approximately 6.5 inches by 9 inches, inscribed "To Count H. Matsu, with the regards of Theodore Roosevelt."  At this time, Mutsu was the former Consul.