Kobe Incident
The Kobe incident (Japanese: 神戸事件, Hepburn: kōbe jiken), also known in Japanese as the Bizen incident (備前事件, bizen jiken) and in English as the Bizen affray or Bizen affair, was a diplomatic incident between Imperial Japan and several Western powers, caused by a skirmish on February 4, 1868, between Bizen soldiers and foreign sailors. It developed into a crisis in Franco–Japanese relations, becoming the first major international affairs challenge for the fledgling Imperial faction.