British Engagement with Japan, 18541922
This book, by a leading authority on Anglo-Japanese relations, reconsiders the circumstances which led to the unlikely alliance of 1902 to 1922 between Britain, the leading world power of the day, and Japan, an Asian, non-European nation which had only recently emerged from self-imposed isolation. Based on extensive original research the book goes beyond existing accounts which concentrate on high politics, strategy, and simple assertions about the two countries similarities as island empires. It brings into the picture cultural factors, particularly the ways in which Japan was portrayed in Britain, and ambivalent British attitudes to race and supposed European superiority which were overcome but remained difficulties. It charts how the relationship developed as events unfolded, including Japans wars against China and Russia, and in addition looks at royal diplomacy, where the Japanese Court came eventually to be treated as a respected equal. Overall, the book provides a major reassessment of this important subject.
Antony Best is an Associate Professor of International History at the London School of Economics
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British Engagement with Japan, 18541922
The Origins and Course of an Unlikely Alliance
Antony Best
First published 2021
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2021 Antony Best
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ISBN: [978-1-138-47730-8] (hbk)
ISBN: [978-1-351-10516-3] (ebk)
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This book is dedicated to my father Philip Best and to the memory of my mother Muriel Best.
Contents
This book is the culmination of about fifteen years of research. Naturally during that time I have incurred many debts to those who have assisted me in my studies. I should like to begin by thanking the British Academy for providing me with a Small Research Grant in 20045 which allowed me to visit archives in Australia and Canada; and to the Suntory/Toyota Institute at the LSE for a research grant in 201011 which helped to fund further trips to Australia and New Zealand. In addition, I would like to thank the Institute for the Social Sciences at the University of Tokyo, and particularly my sponsor, Naofumi Nakamura, for inviting me to be a visiting fellow in the autumn/winter of 20045.
As anyone who consults the bibliography will see, I have used a wide range of archives and libraries in the preparation of this text. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of these institutions for their help. I was also fortunate enough to be able to consult some material that is not in the public domain, and I am grateful to the 11th Earl of Elgin for allowing me to see the papers of his grandfather; to the late Gerald Hohler for allowing me to read the diary letters of his father, Sir Thomas Hohler; to Colin Houston for access to the McVean and Gubbins family records; and to Tom Somerville for accommodating my last-minute visit to see the letters of Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Somerville to his siblings.
Records from the National Archives and the India Office Library appear by permission of the Controller of Her Majestys Stationery Office. I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the gracious permission of Her Majesty the Queen to draw upon material contained in the Royal Archives in Windsor. I would also like to thank the following for permission to quote from material in their care; the Syndics of Cambridge University Library; the National Library of Scotland; the Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; the Representative Church Body Library, Dublin; the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto; the Royal Artillery Historical Trust; The University of Manchester Library; South West Heritage Trust; Kings College London Archives; Lambeth Palace Library; the Marquess of Salisbury, Hatfield House; Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums; Gloucestershire Archives; Sir Henry Rumbold for the Rumbold papers at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford; Megan Lewis and Gavin Lewis for the Winston Lewis Collection at the Mitchell Library, Sydney; Edward Hohler for the Sir Thomas Hohler papers; Michael Brander for the Balfour Muniments at the NLS; The Times/News Licensing for material from Times Newspapers Limited Archive; the National Army Museum; Tom Somerville for the Jack Somerville papers; Unilever Collections at Unilever Art, Archives and Records Management, Port Sunlight; and the copyright holder of the Eileen Power papers at Girton College, Cambridge. Quotations from the Add Mss series of the West Sussex Record Office appears by courtesy of the County Archivist, while material from the Maxse papers appears by courtesy of Mr A. Maxse, and with acknowledgements to Mr R. Campbell-Lammerton and the County Archivist, West Sussex Record Office.
Among my fellow historians, I would like to thank Arnd Bauerkmper, John Breen, Andrew Cobbing, Frederick Dickinson, John Ferris, John Fisher, Oliviero Frattolillo, Matthew Glencross, Harumi Goto-Shibata, Yuichi Hosoya, Janet Hunter, Gaynor Johnson, Seung Young Kim, Ryosuke Maeda, Joe Maiolo, Masataka Matsuura, Sochi Naraoka, Thomas Otte, Ian Ruxton, David Stevenson, Paul Stock, and Gagan Sood for their advice, criticism, and encouragement. As ever, I am also very grateful to Ian Nish for his help and guidance, and would, in addition, like to pay tribute to the late Sir Hugh Cortazzi whose passion and drive were an example for anyone in the field of Anglo-Japanese studies. I am also pleased to acknowledge the inspiration provided by my former PhD students, Dayna Barnes, Phoebe Chow, Scott Gilfillan, Cees Heere, Yu Suzuki, and Takahiro Yamamoto; may they all flourish.
