The Russian diplomatic representative in Hakodate A. E. Olarovsky (1870-1874)

The activity of A.E. Olarovskiy, head of the Russian consulate in the Japanese city Hakodate in 1870-1874, is examined on basis of documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. Much attention is given to an analysis of his reports to the Asian department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about commodity circulation in Japanese ports, and about the activity of Russian trading companies in Japan. It concludes that Olarovskiy sought to increase Russian trade with Japan because he considered it very important for the consolidation of Russia's positions in the Far East.