Japan established a new centralized government with Emperor Meiji at its head in 1868 and she had to learn various kinds of science, technology, social system and know-how in different fields to accomplish modernization, westernization and industrialization. Japanese government hired many foreigners with special skill. For example, the first railway in Japan between Shimbashi and Yokohama was so quickly opened to traffic in 1872 thanks to the technical guidance of British engineers.  

Some of engineers who made a great contribution to construction of the first railway in Japan rests in the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetary.
As for the modern architecture, Josiah Conder from England, who was hired by Japanese government as a professor, came to Japan in 1877 and worked at the Imperial College of Engineering to teach Japanese students. Many buildings which one of his first students named Toukuma Katayama designed are designated as the Important Cultural Properties, and one of them is even the National Treasure.      

The State Guest House in Tokyo was originally built for Crown Prince's Palace in 1909. It is designated as the National Treasure and open to the public.
One more his masterwork is Hyoukei-kan in the Tokyo National Museum. It was built almost at the same time as the Palace mentioned above.

Josiah Conder is one of the most famous hired foreigners. He married a Japanese woman and died in Tokyo in 1920. He loved Japanese culture.
Finally, I would like to show a photo about one of Conder's masterworks. It is the former Furukawa Residence in Tokyo built in 1917.