Hi. From 1633 to 1853, Japan secluded itself through a system called "Sakoku". Access to the country was severely limited, and commoners were not permitted to leave the country.
This poses a bit of a problem for a fictional story I'm writing on, as it has a group of Japanese people visiting Europe around 1810. The visit is several years long, including extended stays in Engngland, France and some of the countries now known as Germany, preliminary leaving Japan in 1809 and returning there in 1816. The group contains a nobleman and his wife, as well as their entourage. The entourage contains at least one person who is of commoner origin.
I want my story to be realistic, so the Sakoku system cannot be disregarded or hand-waved.
At first I thought I could simply solve this problem by establishing that the nobleman's father, a feudal lord, had business deals with the Dutch East India Company. This would be convenient, as the DEIC was not only based in Europe but also had access to the japanese port city Nagasaki during the Sakoku. However, it turned out that the DEIC actually went defunct in 1799.
Thus, I wonder three things...
What (direct and indirect) trade relations existed between Europe and Japan between 1805 and 1820?
If a Japanese nobleman (who is the son of a wealthy feudal lord) wanted to go to Europe to study european culture and philosophy, what obstacles would he have to overcome? I guess the first thing would be to get permission & financing from his father. Once that is settled, would there be further hoops to jump through? Would he need some kind of peremission from the emperor or other central authority beyond his father?
While commoners wouldn't get permission to leave the country on their own, could a travelling nobleman get permission (or even do so without asking permission) to bring an entourage which includes one or several commoners?
Well, I have some bad news, although I don't want to discourage you writing. None of your story as described is historically possible.
Hi. From 1633 to 1853, Japan secluded itself through a system called "Sakoku". Access to the country was severely limited, and commoners were not permitted to leave the country.
"Sakoku" which is an anachronistic term (they didn't use it at the time, and it's a translation of a German description "the country in chains") meant no one was allowed to leave the country and return. A nobleman leaving the country would be worse than a peasant, but neither is permitted. If they do leave, even if they're just fishermen swept up in a storm and deposited on far shores, they wouldn't be allowed back in.
So to specifically answer your questions.
The Dutch East India Company went defunct in 1799, but the Dutch government took over the trading franchise at Nagasaki, and the people already running the Japan concern just became civil servants. They continued trading with Japan at Nagasaki for the rest of the restricted trade period.
The obstacles for such a quest are unsurmountable. Even asking to do so would probably be enough for your father to confine you to the house and hope no one else heard your request. The person overseeing this system is not the Emperor, who has very little power in this period, but the shogun.
Also, "noble" in the lingo English historians use for Japan specifically refers to the "kuge", members of the Imperial Court in Kyoto, who would be more restricted in their movements than anyone. The shogunate did not want nobles becoming allied with samurai. But you might be thinking of high ranking samurai, who were in fact, the lords (daimyo) of their domains. These people are not called nobles.
Realistically, you'd need a lot more knowledge of Japanese history to write a historically accurate story, and I do recommend reading up on the history. Marius Jansen's The Making of Modern Japan would be a good book to do so.
For a good discussion/explanation of the origins of "Sakoku" and why most historians now don't like calling it "Sakoku", check out this AskHistorians thread, with posts from /u/t-o-k-u-m-e-i and /u/shakepeare-gurl (And yes I know I use the word "sakoku" all the time because people recognize it but I probably shouldn't or at least use a disclaimer.)
But in the meantime, you could also write an alternate history, or about a Japan-like fantastic country. I'm very for just taking the plunge and writing, even if it's not accurate. It's how we get into history. I got interested in Japanese history via fandom, and learned a lot writing fanfic for an anime that takes place in alternate universe Japan.
I'll link you some questions here I've answered as well.
Were any visitors to Japan during the "Sakoku" period punished or executed?
"Covert mission to Europe" synopsis
Having concluded that the trip needs to be a covert mission (see my reply to user/NientedeNada ), I figure that something like this would be reasonably plausible:
The Japanese government considers Europe to be a threat. This is the very reason for having the policies later known as "sakoku" in the first place. For the same reason, there are also people in high positions who want to know more about Europe.
A man hereby known as EL (for Expedition Leader) is recruited for the mission by a man hereby known as OL (for OverLord). I figure that EL is a samurai who is also one of the sons of a powerful Daimyo. As for OL, I see two main options... 2A. OL is either the Shogun himself, or a powerful and trusted minion who works on the Shogun's behalf with the Shogun's blessing. 2B. OL is a powerful and trusted minion of the Shogun, but works behind the Shogun's back and has dreams of one day starting a revolution or otherwise overthrowing the Shogunate.
EL with entourage, hereby called ELE, is formally taken into the service of either OL or some minion of OL. They are sent to an undisclosed location, and disappear. There may or may not be rumors that they are secretly held hostage and used for insurance or leverage as part of some kind of power struggle.
ELE gets smuggled to China, where they assume false identities as Chinese. This smuggling may go through the "Ryukyu Kingdom".
Once in China, they are simply a small group of wealthy people trying to get to Europe and back. (Which in itself is a separate scenario: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8b9b8w/chinese_tourists_in_europe_or_usa_in_1810/ )
Once back in China after their travels, they get smuggled back into Japan and then report to OL.
After several weeks of debriefing and merging their actual lives with the cover story provided by their employer, they reemerge in mainstream Japanese society.
Does this sound doable? Anything big I missed?