Ian Nish - Britain and Japan Vol II

JAPAN SOCIETY PAPERBACK EDITION Not for resale

BRITAIN & JAPAN: BIOGRAPHICAL PORTRAITS
Volume II
Edited by Ian Nish

First published 1997 by
JAPAN LIBRARY

This edition published 2013 by Routledge

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Japan Society Publications 1997

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No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission from the publishers in writing, except for the use of short extracts in criticism.

ISBN 1-873410-62-X [Case]

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP entry for this book is available
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Set in Bembo 12 on 12 point
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HUGH CORTAZZI

YUMIYO YAMAMOTO

CARMEN BLACKER

YOSHIHKO MORITA

OLIVE CHECKLAND & NORIO TAMAKI

HUGH CORTAZZI

J.E. HOARE

IAN NISH

JULIA BOYD

PAUL MURRAY

IAN MUTSU

MARI NAKAMI

HAMISH ION

DOROTHY BRITTON

IAN NISH

SIR HUGH CORTAZZI

IAN NISH

ANTONY BEST

SADAO OBA

CARMEN BLACKER

SIR HUGH CORTAZZI

ROBIN GRAY

SOSUKE HANAOKA

SYDNEY GIFFARD

BEST, Antony Lecturer in International History, London School of Economics. His most recent book is Britain, Japan and Pearl Harbour: Avoiding war in East Asia, 1936-41 (Roudedge, 1995)

BLACKER, Carmen University lecturer in Japanese (retired), Cambridge University. Has published books and articles on Japanese religion and folklore.

BOYD, Julia Has recently published Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan (Tuttle, 1995)

BRITTON, Dorothy Japan-born author, poet, composer. Her latest book is The Silver Drum, a translation of Princess Chichibus memoirs (Global Oriental, 1996)

CHECKLAND, Olive Fellow (Overseas), of the Fukuzawa Memorial Centre, Keio University, Tokyo. Her latest book is Isabella Bird and a Womans Right (June 1996)

CORTAZZI, Hugh A former British Ambassador to Japan and Chairman of Council of the Japan Society, 198595; and author of various books about Japan including The Japanese Achievement (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1990)

GIFFARD, Sydney A former British Ambassador to Japan and author of Japan among the Powers, 1890-1990 (Yale, 1994)

GRAY, Robin Deputy-Secretary with responsibility for international trade relations, Department of Trade and Industry (now retired)

HANAOKA, Sosuke Former Director-General of International Trade Bureau, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and Executive Vice-President, Osaka Gas. Currently President, Japan Bicycle Promotion Institute

HOARE, James Senior Principal Research Officer, HM Diplomatic Service. Author of Japans Treaty Ports and Foreign Settlements (Japan Library, 1994)

ION, Hamish Professor of History, Royal Military College of Canada. Author of various studies including The Cross and the Rising Sun (2 vols.) (Wilfrid Laurier University Press)

MORITA, Yoshihiko Director-General, Planning Office, Export-Import Bank of Japan (formerly London office)

MURRAY, Paul Counsellor at the Irish Embassy, London. His publication, A Fantastic Journey: The Life and Literature of Lafcadio Heam (Japan Library, 1993) was the winner of the 1995 Koizumi Yakumo Literary Prize in Japan. He is currently working on a biography of Bram Stoker.

MUTSU, Yonosuke Ian Journalist and film-maker. Founder-President of the International Motion Picture Co., Tokyo

NAKAMI, Mari Professor of International Relations, Seisen University, Tokyo. Her latest article is Yanagi Muneyoshi to sono jidai I in Seisen Joshi Daigaku kenkyjo kiyo, XVII (1996)

NISH, Ian Emeritus Professor of International History, London School of Economics. Author of Japans Struggle with Internationalism, 1931-3 (Kegan Paul, 1993)

OBA, Sadao Former staff member of Mitsui & Co. First recipient of Japan Society award, 1994. Author of The Japanese War (Japan Library, 1995) and Jawa haisen yokury nikki, 1946-7 [Java internment diary]

TAMAKI, Norio Keio University, Tokyo. His latest book is Japanese Banking: a History, 1859-1959 (Cambridge, 1995)

YAMAMOTO, Yumiyo M. Jur. (Oxford, BNC; Jardine scholar), Ll.B (Gakushuin). Currently legal officer at Bayer Ltd, Japan. Great-great-granddaughter of Masaru Inoue.

T HE JAPAN SOCIETY has in two previous volumes published in 1991 and 1994 tried to interpret the relationship between Britain and Japan, not so much through governments and states as through individuals. In this third volume we have assembled 24 essays mainly about the lives of individual citizens and their reactions to Japan or Britain. These essays have been contributed by Japanese and British writers and have been arranged chronologically.

As before, much of the action is concentrated in Tokyo and London. The essay on British royal visits to Japan in the Meiji period () were distinguished figures who bridge the pre-war and post-war periods.

But we have tried to look beyond the national capitals. The two railway pioneers Inoue Masaru ().

From the Victorian period onwards Britons have resided in rural Japan and have shown a passion for travel in all parts of the Japanese islands. And Britons have shown remarkable initiative in putting down roots in what may more appropriately be called provincial Japan: Hannah Riddell in Kyushu ().

Not only have we tried to present a broader geographical distribution of connections but we have tried to reflect the individualism not to say eccentricity of those who served in our two countries. Those like Robertson-Scott, Hearn and Ponsonby-Fane were strong non-conformist types and attracted an interesting circle of Japanese friends. Even Yoshida and Shigemitsu at the London embassy differed widely from the stereotype of the conformist diplomat, though it might be too much to claim that Yoshidas propensity for wanman politics in the 1950s was something that he learnt in Britain in the 1930s. And, of course, there were others who preferred to live far from the madding crowd. Thus Hirokichi and Ethel Mutsu whose family photograph is reproduced on the cover of this volume chose to leave diplomatic circles and spend the latter part of their lives doing charitable work in Kamakura, an important aspect of the Anglo-Japanese relationship.