Japan Society E-Library

Biographical Portraits Volume VI

Edited by:Cortazzi, Hugh

Publisher:Global Oriental

First published:2007

This edition:2007

ISBN:978-1-905246-33-5

Description

This book forms part of a series recording the lives of men, women and institutions who have played a significant role in the development of UK-Japan relations. The current volume, which contains 34 ‘portraits', contributes further to the Japan Society's collection of individual memoirs. When read together these give a many-faceted picture of modern history, shedding light on controversial issues, illuminating past successes and failures, and providing a valuable point of reference for researchers and historians.

Structured thematically in six parts – Politicians; Royal Matters; Business Figures; Literary Figures; Art Collectors, an Archaeologist and an Artist; A Journalist, a Teacher, and Three Scholars; and Evoi – the highlights in this volume include ‘Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and Japan', ‘Japanese Tattooists and the British Royal Family during the Meiji Period', ‘Ian Fleming (1908-64), Novelist and Journalist', 'The Shōwa Emperor's State Visit to Britain, October 1971', ‘Angela Carter (1040-92): Disorientations', ‘William Gowland (1842-1922), Pioneer of Japanese Archaeology', ‘Elizabeth Keith (1887-1956): A Marriage of British Art and Japanese Craftsmanship', and ‘Marumaya Masao (1914-96) and Britain: An Intellectual in Search of Liberal Democracy'.

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Contents

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Hugh Cortazzi's Introduction to Biographical Portraits Volume VI.

Author: Seki Eiji

The politically active part of Sir Winston Churchill's (1874-1965) life almost coincided with the emergence, decline and rebirth of modern Japan. This essay details Churchill's part in Anglo-Japanese relations both pre and post Second World War.

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Shortly before his resignation as Prime Minister in 1954 Yoshida Shigeru visited Britain. This essay examines the political controversy surrounding Yoshida's visit, as well as the visit itself and an assessment of its success.

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Edward Heath (1916-2005) was the first British Prime Minister to make an official visit to Japan. This essay details Heath's 1972 visit and its aftermath.

Author: Nish, Ian

Nitobe Inazō (1862-1933) was Japan's first international civil servant at the League of Nations. This essay deals with Nitobe’s experiences in the secretariat of the League during its early days in London.

Author: Koyama Noboru

Inagaki Manjirō combined the desire to embrace Western ideas and Japan's imperial ambitions during the Meiji era. This essay details his life and diplomatic career, providing an overall analysis of both.

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

This essay provides an account and analysis of The Shōwa Emperor's (Hirohito's) visit to Britain in 1970. It marked the first Japanese state visit to Britian, as well as the first time a Japanese emperor had ever made a visit abroad.

Author: Best, Antony

Following the collapse of the Romanov, Hohenzollerns and Hapsburg powers in 1917-18, Britain's most significant royal relationship was with Imperial Japan. This essay details Court Diplomacy between 1900-41, shedding light on the broader Anglo-Japanese relationship.

Author: Koyama Noboru

This essay provides an account of Japanese tattooists interactions with the British Royal Family during the Meiji period.

Author: Toyoda Shōichirō

Toyoda Shōichirō offers his memoir of the Toyota Motor Company's establishment, growth, and subsequent association with Britain.

Author: Madeley, Christopher

Nissan has a long history of formal and informal relations with Britain, and this essay provides a history of these relations as well as their nature and establishment.

Author: Mountfield, Robin

This essay details the negotiations, subsequent investments, and business relationship between Nissan and Britain from 1980-84.

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

This essay provides an account of Honda Sōichirō's (1906-1991) life, personality, and business relationship with Britain.

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Morita Akio (1921-99) was one of the main driving forces behind the Sony Corporation. This essay details his career, personality, and business philosophy, as well as his relationship with Britain.

Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

Businessman Sir Peter Parker (1924-2002) made an outstanding contribution to Anglo-Japanese relations in the final decades of the twentieth century. This essay offers an account and analysis of his career and impact in relation to Japan.

Author: Gordon, Martin

Across Lord Eric Roll's (1907-2005) work as economist, investment banker and civil servant lie dealings with Japan. This essay provides an account and analysis of those dealings.

Author: Clegg, Nick

This essay offers an account and analysis of the career of one of the most charismatic and forwardthinking leaders in the Japanese Securities Industry, Chino Yoshitoki's (1923-2004), along with his work with the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.

Author: Britton, Dorothy

This essay provides a thorough and tender account of Frank Britton's (1879-1934) life, relations with Japan, and his role in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

Author: Hoare, James Edward

Ernest Cyril Comfort played a significant role in the post First World War Civil Aviation Mission to Japan. This essay provides an account of the mission and Comfort's role in aiding Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Author: Yamagata-Footman Yuko

This essay details Uyeno Yutaka's (1915- ) family, personal, and business history specifically as it relates to interactions with Britain in the pertrochemical industry.

Author: Norimasa Morita

Yoshida Ken'ichi, bunshi, writer, and essayist devoted his entire life to literature (1912-77). This essay details his interaction with English literature and culture and his writing career, both in Japan and Britain.

Author: Hatcher, John

Despite there being very little of Japan in Somerset Maugham's (1874-1965) writings, he spent much time there and gained much popularity among the Japanese. This essay offers an account and analysis of Maugham's time in Japan.

Author: Hatcher, John

This essay details Ian Fleming's (1908-64) 1959 visit to Tokyo for the Sunday Times, as part of a five-week tour of his personal canon of 'the thrilling cities of the world', and the impact this and his subsequent visits to the country had on his writing.

Author: Burleigh, David

Cosmopolitan novelist and writer Frank Tuohy (1925-99) lived in several different countries, but it was in Japan that he spent the longest time. This essay offers an account of his life there, as well as his own reflections on Japan and the impact the country had on his fiction.

Author: Buckley, Roger

Very little is known about Angela Carter's (1940-92) time in Tokyo. Nevertheless, this essay provides an analysis and account of the author's escape from to the East and its effect upon her.

Author: Huberman, Toni

This essay offer an account of Charles Holme's (1848-1923) career as an art collecter and connoisseur of Japanese art, as well as his founding of The Studio - the first international arts magazine.

Author: Rousmaniere, Nicole Coolidge

This essay compares and contrasts the parallel careers of two of the Victorian era's most influential collectors of Japanese art, Augustus Wollaston Franks (1826-97) and James Lord Bowes (1834-1899)

Author: Kaner, Simon

William Gowland (1842-1922) is arguably one of the most important figures in Japanese Archaeology. This essay details his wider career and dealings with Japan's ancient archaeological sites.

Author: Britton, Dorothy

This essay offers a lively account of Elizabeth Keith's artistic career in Japan, recounting her personality, talents, and affection for Japanese craftsmanship.

Author: O'Connor, Peter

This essay provides an account of the life and career of journalist Hugh Byas (1875-1945), in particular his writing on Japan's interbellum political development.

Author: Gauntlett, Saiko

This essay details the life and career of teacher, explorer, and missionary Edward Gauntlett (1868-1956) in Japan, and his contributions to English education in the country as a whole.

Author: Ruxton, Ian

This essay provides an account of the life and career of Joseph Longford (1849-1925), one of the forgotten scholars of the Japan service.

Author: Baker, John R., and Biggs, Frances K.

The essay details the career of Botanist Kathleen Mary Drew Baker (1901-57), and how her studies helped to save the Japanese Nori industry.

Author: Kersten, Rikki

This essay explores their relationship between Richard Storry - one of Britain's leading historians of Japan - and leading Japanese intellectual Marumaya Masao (1914-96), both of whom pioneered analysis of the Pacific War's implications for Japan. 

Author: Daniels, Gordon, and Robert Whitaker

This essay reports on the Daiwa Foundations 40th anniversary of the Beatle's visit to Japan in 1966.

Author: Cheke, Dudley

A facsimile of the British Embassy, Tokyo, report on the Beatles' 1966 visit to Japan.

Author: Mountfield, Robin

An overview of the negotiations preceding the establishment of a Nissan assembly plant in Washington, County Durham.

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