This fascinating first-hand account of the impact of the declaration of war by Japan upon Britain in 1941 provides reflections upon the diplomatic and personal situaions of the staff engaged in Anglo-Japanese relations at the time.

Gren Wedderburn was one of the first two doctors at the Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic set up by Tokyo Tower in 1951 as the Occupation was coming to an end, a service used by many expatriates in the 1950s and '60s. This chapter gives an overview of his time in Japan.

The great novelist Anthony Powell visited Japan with the British Council in 1964 and gave a brief account of his visit in his autobiography.

In addition to the writers mentioned in Chapter 4, 'Cultural Relations Resumed', who lectured and taught in Japanese universities, Anthony Thwaite worked in Japan from 1953 to 1957, and wrote about his experiences in Tokyo during this period.

Officers from all three services have done stints in post-war Japan as advisers during the Occupation years. Their tasks were to observe the demilitarization of Japan and then to develop contacts with the Self-Defense Forces, and more recently to promote defence sales from British manufacturers. Here a number of previous service attachés recount their experience in Japan. 

Writers Sacheverell Sitwell and Arthur Koestler both visited Japan in the 1950s and published accounts of their experiences.

As air services developed and Japan become more accessible, the number of visitors from Britain increased. One of these early visitors was composer Benjamin Britten.

Carmen Blacker visited Japan in 1952 on a post-graduate studentship granted by HM Treasury, to study the 19th century scholar Yukichi Fukuzawa. While there she was invited to summer with the novelist Jiro Osaragi, during which time she began her work on Japanese religion and spent a week at the famous temple of Engakuji at Kamakura.

In his book David Hockney, David Hockney recorded the details of his 1971 visit to Japan. He later visited the British Embassy, resulting in the work Lunch at the British Embassy.

Having completed his time as a language student, future Ambassador Sydney Giffard was sent to the Kansai to gain experience as a Vice-Consul. Here he describes life in Kansai in the 1950s, putting it in the context of progressive centralization in Tokyo.

Eddie Ripley gives an account of his efforts to study Japanese and of his early experiences as a vice-consul in Yokohama in the late 1950s and '60s.

Edmund Blunden returned to Japan as cultural adviser to the United Kingdom Liaison Mission. Here he describes rural Japan.

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.

Key figures from the British merchant banking community in Japan reflect on the experience of doing business there, and on the changing market from the 1950s to '80s.

Expo '70 was the first world's fair held in Japan, and was given the theme 'Progress and Harmony for Mankind'. Here three helpers from the British Pavilion and Peter Martin of the British Council recreate the atmosphere of the event.

Lewis Bush was a POW who had lived in Japan prior to the war. This chapter comprises extracts from his account, The Road to Inamura.

Although few British politicians have had more than a cursory knowledge of Japan, large numbers of MPs have visited the country, and some have managed to achieve more than a passing acquaintance with it. The British Japan Parliamentary Group and the UK-Japan 2000 Group (later UK-Japan 21st Century Group) have been the driving force behind this. Here key figures from these organisations describe their dealings with Japan.

Novelist Frank Ashton-Gwatkin revisited Japan for the first time after the war in 1974. In this chapter he recalls his first experiences of Japan, where he worked for the Japan Consular Service in 1913.

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.

Geoffrey Bownas was the first British scholar to study in Kyoto after the war, arriving there in 1952. Here he describes his experience, particularly with regard to the movement towards senzogaeri - 'returning home to the values of our ancestors'.

Poet Harry Guest was in Japan from 1966 to 1972, and recalls his experiences.

Hisaakira Kanō's (1886-1963) family rode the tide of a rapidly changing Japan, being open to Western ways and modern thinking, but responding in ways that were rooted in his traditional samurai background.

Honor Tracy gives a sardonic and anti-American view of Japan in the latter days of the Occupation.

Artist Hugh Casson visited Japan in 1981 for the 'Great Japan Exhibition' of Edo period art. During his time there he made a number of sketches, later published as part of the 1991 Japan Festival in Britain.

Ian Nish had been in Japan during the Occupation, and in the late 1950s was a lecturer at Sydney University. He visited Japan every year from 1957 to '63 for research.

Ian Nish, later Professor at SOAS, gives an account of his work in the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre, where he translated contemporary newspapers, along with documents from during the war, and was later involved in the first post-war elections.

Diplomat John Figgess was among the first of the British contingent to arrive in Tokyo in 1945 and in this chapter he describes his arrival and his work in Japan.

Novelist John Haylock first went to Japan in 1956 and again several times later, and recalls his experience.

This portrait charts the life of Kazuko Aso throughout the turbulent twentieth century, in particular her time in Britain where she developed a real love and affection for the country.

This portrait provides an insight into the role of writer, director and impressario Kazuo Kikuta (1908-1973) in the Japanese commercial theatre industry, to which he introduced numerous West End and Broadway shows.

Ken Gardner was a Japanese language student during the war and returned to SOAS afterwards, becoming assistant librarian responsible for Japanese books. He then worked as Keeper of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts at the British Museum, and visited Japan in 1967.

Art historian and critic Kenneth Clark visited Japan in 1963, giving him the opportunity to indulge his love of Japanese art.

Dorothy Britton was born in Japan before the war and returned there during the Occupation. This chapter gives an account of her life as a bridge between Japanese and English cultures.

Alan Pinnell's diplomatic career in Japan spanned some twenty years, from the late 1960s to the late '80s. Here he picks out some of the most memorable moments from his time in Japan, starting with his time as a language student and culminating with the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1986, via his time in the commercial department.

Laurens van der Post was in Japan before the war and had been a Japanese POW in Java. He was commissioned by Hogarth Press to write A Portrait of Japan, published in 1968, and also wrote a number of other books relating to his experiences in Japan.

Lew Radbourne was a member of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, attached to the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre. In this chapter he describes being sent to Japan in 1947 after studying at SOAS.

Christopher Wood recalls his time as a British soldier in Shikoku in 1946.

F.S.G Piggott was one of a small number of japanophiles left in post-war Britain, preferring to overlook the worst excesses of Japan's pre-war leaders. This chapter details his nostalgic view of life in pre-war Japan.

This portrait provides an account of the exchange of skills in the world of ceramics and pottery between Japan and Britain through Matsubayashi Tsurunosuke (1894-1932) and his visit to Britain from 1922-1924, as well as his wider introduction of Japanese culture to Britain.

Royal Dutch Shell  was one of the few 'British' companies (a majority of the company's expatriates were British) to train its staff in the Japanese language. Here Paul Bates, Neville Fakes and Michael Wingate recall their experiences with Shell from 1952 to '72, with a focus on the process of doing business in Japan at this time.

Merrick Baker-Bates was first a diplomatic service language student in Japan before becoming Commercial Counsellor. Having transferred to commerce for four years he subsequently returned to the diplomatic service as Consul General in LA. Here he describes his various lives in Japan, with particular reference to his time as a language student, the shift in emphasis in the 1960s to promoting British exports, and to his time as General Manager of Cornes and Company.

Mike Perry headed Unilever's joint venture in Japan from 1981 to '83 and went on to lead various British campaigns to export to Japan. Here he describes his experiences in Japan in the early 1980s.

Lees Mayall describes his encounter with author Mishima Yukio.

John Morris was one of a handful of British individuals without service connections in Japan in the early days of the occupation. Having written about his experiences in Japan prior to the war, he set off to write a sequel.

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

Paul Bates, who studied at SOAS before spending time with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, sums up his time in the Occupation.

William Gerard Beasley, subsequently a professor at SOAS, arrived in Japan in 1945 with the Americans. This chapter comprises extracts from a talk given on his experiences of the flurry of activity in the early occupation, particularly with regard to demilitarization and early post-war economics.

Peter Bates sums up the feelings of the arriving British troops and their impressions.

As a prisoner of war, Peter Dean was one of the first westerners to experience Japan after the surrender.

Peter Parker reached Japan in October 1945 as a British officer. In this chapter he describes his experiences both of Japan and the American Occupation.

Phillida Purvis lived in Japan during the 1980s and experienced a number of different 'incarnations', as a student, diplomat, teacher of international relations, wife and mother. Here she picks out themes from her life as an expatriate in Japan.

Among the outstanding students of Japanese during the war, Ronald Doore was so succesful that he was asked to stay on at SOAS as an additional teacher. He had to wait five years after the war for his first trip to Japan, and here he gives his account of Japan in the penultimate year of the Occupation.

The pre-war Japan Consular Service sent selected new entrants each year to study Japanese, creating a corps of Japanese-speaking consuls. The Foreign Office realised that Japanese-speaking officers would be needed after the war in the embassy, and in consular posts in Japan, and so revived the practice in 1951. In this chapter Dick Ellingworth and Brian Hitch describe the system.

Sir Esler Dening looks back on his time in post-war Japan.

Banker Peter Hand reflects on the changed circumstances for British banks in Japan from the post war period to the 1980s.

One of the key service sectors for Britain in Japan was the airline industry, and until the late 1980s the main British company involved was British Airways. Here David Wilkinson, BA's manager in Japan from 1978 to '87 gives an account of his experience there, along with his wife, Ann Wilkinson's reflections. Following this, Martin Naylor recalls the important role played by the Japan British Society in the 1960s and '70s. During a forty-year career in Japan, Dick Large worked for John Swire & Sons (during which time he precided over Swire Japan's international shipping operations), Cathay Pacific and BA. Here he reflects on this period.

Having first gone to Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, Lew Radbourne returned in 1949 as a junior expatriate with Dodwell and Company. Duncan Fraser first worked in Japan with Jardin Matheson and Company Limited and ended his service there as Direct of Royals Royce (Far East). Here both recall the early years of working and trading in Japan

Richard Storry was in Japan teaching before the war, and afterwards was a research fellow in Oxford. This chapter details his 1958 visit to Japan to collect material on Prince Fumimaro Konoye, Japanese Prime Minister from 1937 to '39 and 1940 to '41. It also describes a visit made in 1973, at the height of the oil crisis.

This portrait charts the career of Ron Duckenfield (1917-2010) throughout the Second World War, as a fighter pilot and as a prisoner-of-war under the Japanese, and subsequently as air attaché to the British Embassy in Tokyo.

The Royal Ballet and top ballet dancers from Britain have been frequent visitors to Japan since the late 1950s.

Hugh Cortazzi recounts two meetings with author Shiba Ryōtarō, best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent.

This essay provides an account of the life and career of Sir John Figgess (1909-97), businessman, intelligence officer, diplomat and art expert.

This essay describes how Sir John Pilcher (1912-90), as British ambassador in Japan between 1967 and 1972, helped to revive Anglo-Japanese friendship after the Second World War and was long remembered with affection both in Japan and by his friends and colleagues.

This essay describes how Sir John Pilcher (1912-1990), as British ambassador in Japan between 1967 and 1972, helped to revive Anglo-Japanese friendship after the Second World War and was long remembered with affection both in Japan and by his friends and colleagues.

A reassessment of the career of Sir Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897), the first British Minister to Japan from 1859-64.

Vere Redman was a notable eccentric, but devoted to Anglo-Japanese relations. This chapter comprises extracts from a talk given by Redman, 'Things I have learned in and From Japan', covering both the pre- and post-war.

Somerset Maugham was very popular among Japanese students of English, and visited Japan in 1959.

Poet Stephen Spender was in Japan in 1958, and recalls his experiences of noh and Hokkaido.

In the 1950s the Foreign Office maintained the tradition of sending language students to Japan. Here future Ambassador Tim Whitehead recalls his time, from 1956, as one such student, including his extensive travelling around the country.

Dick Ellingworth, First Secretary and Olympic Attaché at the Embassy from 1963 recalls the state of Japan at this time, and the Embassy's role in the Tokyo Olympics.

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

Eric Elstob looks back on over thirty years in Japan in a career that started with the Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust. Meanwhile, Dugald Barr was recruited in 1969 by Vickers, da Costa, a company that was among the first to invest in the Tokyo market, to conduct research and open their Japan office, the first of a London broker in Japan. With Haruko Fukuda, he built up the largest business of any foreign broker in Japan. Here he racalls his experiences.

Bill Williamson did two separate tours as Atomic Energy Attaché at the British Embassy. His account of working with the Japanese government in the commissioning of the first nuclear power stations in Japan is a reminder of an important and often over-looked facet of Anglo-Japan relations. Clive Bradley meanwhile was Counsellor for Science and Technology in the British Embassy in the 1980s where he was responsible for reporting on scientific and technological developments and for promoting British science and technology.

Before the 1970s there seemed to be little scope for British financial services in the closed Japanese market. Japanese membership of the OECD, however, forced gradual changes, along with internal pressure from Japanese companies wanting access to foreign loans. Here Chris Elston, who joined the British Embassy as Financial Counsellor in 1979 recalls his time as Bank of England representative in Japan, and reflects on both the state of Japan's banking system and general accounting practices in the years leading up to the crisis. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Little of HM Treasury gives an account of negotiations to ensure that Britain kept pace with American financial institutions in Japan.

In 1947 Vere Redman reinstated the policy of attaching a prominent writer as teacher of English to the mission in Japan, to be 'placed at the disposal of Japanese Universities'. Edmund Blunden, George Fraser and D.J. Enright all held this post, and this chapter records their thoughts on Japan, along with those of a number of prominent figures with the British Council in Japan, Reg Close, Francis King, Leslie Phillips, Ronald Bottrall, E.W.F.Tomlin.

Having served in Japan during the Occupation, Bill Beasley returned there to carry out post-doctoral research during a sabatical year in 1950, and again in 1956 and 1963.

Yoshida Ken'ichi was a literary critic, author and scholar of English literature. This chapter gives an account of his meetings with Honor Tracy, Lees Mayall and Anthony Powell.