This chapter details Arthur Waley's (1899-1966) career as one of the great translators of Japanese literary works and as an inspiration to generations of Japan scholars. 

The composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was only in Japan for twelve days, in 1956, but his exposure to Japanese culture had a powerful impact on his music, resulting in his opera Curlew River.

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.

Following the introduction of Western music to Japan in the nineteenth century, Meiji leaders struggled to incorporate it into the modernised education system. This essay details the way in which British vocal music provided a solution to their difficulties.

Marie Stopes (1907-1958) is most widely known as the pioneer of birth control and sex education for women in Britain. This chapter details her often forgotten early years in Japan, including her published works on Japanese theatre and her love affair with a professor at Tokyo University, as well as her employment as the first female Western scientist to work at Tokyo University.

Along with Murakami Haruki, Ninagawa Yukio (1935) is perhaps the most famous of Japanese cultural figures in Britain. This portrait examines Ninagawa's international career as a director and in particular his staging of Shakespeare.

This portrait details the scholarly career of P.G. O'Neill (1924-2012), his study of the Japanese language, Japanese festivals and Nō theatre.

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.

Sakura Jōji (1858-1939) studied physics and chemistry at University College London, and became one of Japan's leading scientists. He also pioneered the study in English of Nō drama.

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

In his brief life and literary career Kōri Torahiko (1890-1924) had many dealings with Britain and its literary scene. This portrait charts his interactions as a Japanese writer with the culture of Britain and its literature.