The Treaty of Portsmouth (Portsmouth Peace Treaty)

Portsmouth Celebrates 110th Anniversary of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty

Mayor Reads Governor's Proclamation of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day

New Hampshire celebrated the 110th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with commemorations around the state. Locations with Portsmouth Peace Treaty Living Memorial cherry trees held dedications, bell-ringings and other events to mark the occasion.

Portsmouth welcomed two delegations from Nichinan, Japan -- Portsmouth's Sister City and the birthplace of lead Japanese negotiator Baron Komura. Nichinan Mayor Kyohei Sakita and members of the Nichinan City Council, Chamber of Commerce and Sister City Friendship Association and a delegation from the Nichinan Gakuen Junior Senior High School led by Director General Masakuni Soeda with four teachers and nineteen students traveled to Portsmouth for the celebration. The students participated in homestays with Portsmouth High School students and other activities including the formal commemorations of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day.

On Friday, September 4th, Portsmouth Mayor Robert Lister and City Manager John Bohenko welcomed the Nichinan City and school officials with a reception and tour of Portsmouth City Hall. The Mayors discussed their respective City Council responsibilities while touring the Portsmouth City Council Chambers (below right), following the exchange of gifts (below, left).

On Saturday, September 5th, the Nichinan delegations started the day with a tour of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where the Treaty was signed 110 years before (below, left, outside Building 86 at the Shipyard). They then visited the Portsmouth Peace Treaty exhibit in the John Paul Jones House Museum (below, right).

In the afternoon, the groups from Nichinan joined several Russian diplomats for a public celebration of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day at Portsmouth's outdoor history museum, Strawbery Banke. Mayor Robert Lister read the Governor's Proclamation (below, left) and then, after the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard whistle blew, the audience joined the chorus of church bells throughout the City by ringing small commemorative bells (below, right), including four brass bells from the historic foundry in Novograd, Russia, presented by the visiting diplomats. (Photo courtesy of Portsmouth Herald, photographer Ioanna Raptis and reporter Suzanne Laurent).

Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day commemorations concluded with a special program at Wentworth By the Sea Hotel, in the room where in 1905 the Japanese delegation hosted an Appreciation Banquet for their Russian counterparts and New Hampshire hosts. The 2015 program was the first time Russian and Japanese diplomats had gathered in friendship in the same room since 1905.

Alexander Kuznetsov, Head of History and Documentation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, who attended the Treaty commemorations on September 5^th presented a set of documents from those archives, “selected in honor of the people of Portsmouth who have collected the history of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty conference, to enrich those archives.”

When presenting the gift at Wentworth By the Sea in September, Mr. Kuznetsov observed, “Being a diplomat myself, I haven’t seen many places in the world where the peace-making efforts of diplomats are so honored and remembered as in this city. These annual ceremonies have become an important part of the common historic heritage of Russian, American and Japanese peoples.”

The program included:

Welcome

Charles B. Doleac, Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum

Reading of the Governor’s Proclamation
New Hampshire Senator Martha Fuller Clark

Film, “An Uncommon Commitment to Peace:

Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee”

Consul General Tsutomu Himeno

Consulate General of Japan in Boston

Consul General Igor Golubovskiy

Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York

“Baron Komura” Remarks by Descendant Kiriko Komura

Presentation by Alexander Kuznetsov, Director, History & Records Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

(For video clip, click here.)

“Momiji” (“Autumn Leaves”) sung by visiting students of the Nichinan Gakuen Junior-Senior High School

Calendar of Events

For a month's view Calendar, click here.

The Japan-America Society is the 501c3 nonprofit that supports the efforts of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum. To join, click here.

© Richard Haynes
Haynes Images

For information about ordering fine art prints of this Treaty Centennial symbol, and other commemorative items, click here.

For information about the Russia Society of New Hampshire, write to
PO Box 177
Concord NH 03302-0177

For a Russian-language description of the Treaty exhibit click here.

For the Russian-language Library of Congress description of the Treaty of Portsmouth, click here.

News and Links

To learn nore, the following books are available:

Heroes & Friends: Behind the Scenes of the Treaty of Portsmouth by Michiko Nakanishi

There Are No Victors Here: A Local Perspective on the Treaty of Portsmouth by Peter E. Randall

Also available:

An Uncommon Commitment to Peace Exhibit Catalogue published by the Japan-America Society of NH

Blessed Are the Peacemakers: The Service of Thanksgiving for the Portsmouth Treaty, September 5, 1905 by Marina Grot Turkevich Naumann

Original 1905 newsreel footage on DVD

Treaty of Portsmouth 1905-2005 book of reproduction historical postcards.

The Portsmouth Peace Process: Guide for Teachers by Northeast Cultural Coop

Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail

For hours, directions, details on the Portsmouth Historical Society museum where the Portsmouth Peace Treaty exhibit is displayed, click here.

For hours, directions, details on Strawbery Banke Museum and the Shapiro House, owned by one of the founders of Temple Israel who figured in the Treaty citizen diplomacy, click here.

For information about Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Building 86 where the formal negotiations were held. click here.

For more information about Wentworth By the Sea Hotel, where both delegations stayed, click here.

For more information about Green Acre Bahai School and Sarah Farmer's commitment to the peace process, click here.

The Portsmouth Public Library maintains an micorfilm archive of local newspapers and an index of the relevant Treaty reporting and other related materials. The archive of original newspapers, photographs and other documents is maintained by the Portsmouth Athenaeum.