ANGLO-JAPANESE TRADE.

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Souvenir Album of the Visit to Japan, October 1934, of Mission of the Federation of British Industries. A well-preserved photo album presented by the Japanese government to members of the Barnby mission. This delegation was "unofficial and supposed to deal solely with commercial issues, but the Japanese government and media treated it as if it had a political purpose, much to the embarrassment of the British Embassy" (Cortazzi, p. 141). WorldCat lists no other examples.After the invasion of Manchuria and Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations in 1933, a pro-Japanese group in Britain centred on Neville Chamberlain attempted to repair relations between the two countries. The group was led by Colonel Lord Barnby, the former president of the Federation of British Industries and staffed by representatives of the Iron and Steel Federation and the banking firm Seligman Brothers. Officially its goal was to investigate business opportunities in the new colony, but as the Japanese ambassador Matsudaira Tsuneo wrote, "its real aim is to promote friendly relations between Japan and Britain, and between Britain and Manchukuo" (Nish, p. 19). The delegation was greeted by an audience with the emperor, much to the horror of the British ambassador Robert Clive, who suspected that their friendliness was simply a ruse to persuade the British to "accept a subordinate position in East Asia" (Cortazzi, p. 142). The mission caused such a stir that it was debated in parliament on 7 November 1

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