Courts in Japan, and all the exceptional privileges, exemptions, and immunities then enjoyed by German subjects as a part of or appurtenant to such jurisdiction, shall absolutely and without notice. cease and determine. Thereafter all such jurisdiction shall be assumed and exercised by Japanese Courts. XXI.* The present Treaty, with the exception of Article XVII, shall take effect at the expiration of one year, after the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan shall have informed the Government of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, of their wish to put the Treaty into force, but in no case before the 17th July, 1899. The Treaty shall remain in force for the period of twelve years from the date it goes into operation. Either High Contracting Party shall have the right, at any time after eleven years shall have elapsed from the date this Treaty takes effect, to give notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same, and at the expiration of twelve months after such notice is given this Treaty shall wholly cease and determine. Article XVII of the present Treaty shall take effect from the date of the exchange of ratifications, and provided that no other date shall be fixed by the Contracting Parties, it shall remain in force until the other stipulations of the Treaty shall terminate. XXII. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Berlin as soon as possible. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at Berlin, in duplicate, this 4th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1896. (L.S.) VISCOUNT AOKI. (L.S.) FREIHERR VON MARSCHALL. PROTOCOL. The undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed upon the following stipulations at the same time as the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of to-day's date : 1. To Article I of the Treaty. The Japanese Government, pending the opening of the country to German nationals, agrees to extend the existing passport system in such a manner as to allow German nationals, on the production of a certificate of recommendation from the German Representative at Tôkiô, or from any German Consul at the open ports in Japan, to * See Notes, page 594. obtain, upon application, passports available for any part of the country, and for any period not exceeding twelve months, from the Japanese Foreign Office in Tôkiô, or from the chief authorities in the district in which an open port is situated; it being understood that the existing rules and regulations governing German nationals who visit the interior of the Empire are to be maintained. 2. To Articles I and III. It is agreed between the Contracting Parties that the nationals of the one party in the territory of the other shall also be permitted to purchase and possess hypothecary rights over real property in the same degree as the natives. 3. To Article V. It is agreed by the Contracting Parties that six months after the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, the import Tariff hereunto annexed shall, subject to the provisions of Article XIX of the Treaty of 1869, at present subsisting between the two countries, as long as the said Treaty remains in force and thereafter, subject to the provisions of Articles V and XVI of the Treaty signed this day, be applicable to the articles therein enumerated, as far as they are of German produce or manufacture, upon importation into Japan. But nothing contained in this Protocol or the Tariff thereunto annexed, shall be held to limit the right of the Japanese Government to restrict or to prohibit the importation of the following articles, viz., adulterated drugs, medicines, food, or beverages; indecent or obscene prints, paintings, books, cards, lithographic or other engravings, photographs, or any other indecent or obscene articles; articles in violation of patent, trade-mark, or copyright law of Japan; or any other article which, for sanitary reasons, or in view of public security or morals, might offer any danger. The ad valorem duties established by the said Tariff shall, so far as may be deemed practicable, be converted into specific duties, to be reckoned in the existing Japanese silver currency, by a Supplementary Convention, which shall be concluded between the two Governments as soon as possible; the medium prices, as shown by the Japanese Customs Returns during the six calendar months preceding the date of the present Protocol, with the addition of the cost of transportation from the place of purchase, production or fabrication to the port of discharge, as well as commission, if any, shall be taken as the basis of such conversion. It is, however, agreed that, in respect of articles enumerated under Nos. 2, 11, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 30, 31, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 47, 48, 56, and 59 of the annexed Tariff, the conversion of ad valorem into specific duties agreed upon between Japan and Great Britain shall also apply to German imports. So long as and in so far as the conversion into specific duties has not taken place, the ad valorem duties shall be levied in accordance with the rule subjoined to the annexed Tariff. The Japanese General Tariff shall apply to articles not mentioned in the annexed Tariff, without prejudice to the stipulations of Article XIX of the Treaty of 1869, and of Articles V and XVI of the Treaty signed this day, six months after the exchange of ratifications of the latter; but on the understanding that this General Tariff, as well as any later alterations in it, must be made known six months previously, before it can be applied to German imports into Japan. As soon as and in so far as the above-mentioned Tariffs come into application, the Tariff now in force in Japan for German goods and merchandize shall cease to be binding. In all other respects the regulations of the existing Treaty and of the Agreements in connection with it made subsequently shall unconditionally remain in force until the application of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day. 4. To Article XVII. It is agreed that in the countries of both the Contracting Parties protection must be granted to the nationals of the other Party in regard to patents, for samples including patterns and designs, for trade and manufactured marks, for firms and names, whenever the conditions laid down for them by law have been complied with. In addition to this, the Contracting Parties reserve to themselves the right of concluding a special Treaty as to mutual relations with respect to the protection of patents, samples, and trade-marks, and will in due time proceed to negotiation on the subject. Further, the Japanese Government declare that they will become a party to the Berne Convention as to copyright before the cessation of German Consular jurisdiction in Japan. 5. To Article XX. It is understood that, notwithstanding the cessation of the jurisdiction exercised in Japan by the German legal authorities consequent on the coming into force of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, the jurisdiction shall still apply to all cases under consideration at the time of the full operation of the Treaty, until the same are finally decided. The undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed that this Protocol shall be submitted to the two High Contracting Parties at the same time as the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, and that, when the said Treaty is ratified, the Agreements contained in the Protocol shall also equally be considered as approved, without the necessity of a further formal ratification. It is also agreed that the stipulations of this Protocol shall cease to apply simultaneously with the termination of the abovementioned Treaty. In witness thereof both the Plenipotentiaries have affixed their signature and seal. Done at Berlin in duplicate, the 4th April, 1896. (L.S.) VISCOUNT AOKI. (L.S.) FREIHERR VON MARSCHALL. |