First Japanese Embassy to Europe (1862)

Members of the First Japanese Embassy to Europe, in 1862, around Shibata Sadataro, head of the mission staff (seated).
The members of the Japanese Embassy visiting the 1862 International Exhibition in London, from the Illustrated London News.
Senior members of the embassy.
Members of the embassy in Utrecht. The second is Fukuzawa Yukichi from the left.

The First Japanese Embassy to Europe (Japanese:第１回遣欧使節, also 開市開港延期交渉使節団) was sent to Europe by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1862. The head of the mission was Takenouchi Yasunori, governor of Shimotsuke Province (present-day Tochigi Prefecture). The head of the mission staff was Shibata Takenaka Sadataro. Fukuzawa Yukichi was a member of the mission, acting as one of the two translators. The mission numbered 40 men.

Despite the name, it is more accurately the third Japanese embassy to Europe, being preceded by the Tenshō embassy (1582–1590) and the expedition led by Hasekura Tsunenaga between 1613 and 1620.