Sir Thomas Henry Martyn Jerram's (1858-1933) proximity to the China Station shortly before the outbreak of the First World War marks him out as a significant figure in Anglo-Japanese relations.

This article details Sir Rutherford Alcock's (1809-1897) return to Japan in 1867 and, in particualar, his actions taken with regard to the Shimonoseki Straits.

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. 

This essay sketches an account of British military observers of the Russo-Japanese war to reflect on the wider relationship between Britain as a world empire trying to keep pace with other powers, and Japan as an emerging and potent force on the world scene.

This portrait details the sailing and surveying exports of Captain William Broughton in the Pacific and North East Asia.

Charles Alfred Fisher (1916-82) was an ex-prisoner of war, who played a significant, if forgotten role, in the rise of Japanese Studies.

This essay charts Charles Boxer's (1904-2000) abiding love for Japan throughout the Second World War and his internment as a POW, his position as chair of Portugese studies at London University, and his authorship of The Christian Century in Japan.

Charles Dunn (1915-1995) was one of the scholars responsible for the expansion of Japanese studies after the Second World War. This essay details his career as a scholar and dealings with the Japanese language.

This essay details Ernest Bevin's (1881-1951) role in Britain's post war attitudes and policies towards occupied Japan at the start of the Cold War, as Britain strived to remain a global power and public oppinion of Japan remained poor.

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.

Detailing Sir Ernest Satow's (1843-1929) diplomatic and scholarly career, including his time as head of the British Mission in Japan.

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.

This essay details the military career of Francis Festing (1912-76), along with his hobby as a connoisseur of Japanese swords and acts of reconcilliation.

Frederick William Sutton 1832-83 produced some important early photographs documenting Japan in the final years of the shogunate. This essay uses more recent discoveries to chart his life in as an amateur photographer in the Royal Navy.

General Hamilton's (1853-1947) account of the Russo-Japanese war provides a fascinating insight into Britain's perspective on the conflict and on Japan's military capabilities in general.

This essay details Henry Spencer Palmer's (1838-1893) contributions to Meiji Japan, in particular his construction of waterworks and his letters to the Times in support of treaty revision between Japan and Britain.

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.

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.

Alongside his contribution to the modernisation of music performance and education in Japan, John William Fenton is known as a composer of the first Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo. This portrait considers his career as a bandmaster in the British and then Japanese armed forces.

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.

The death of Everard Calthrop (1876-1915) on the Western Front on 19 December 1915 cut short a career which had already done much to increase mutual awareness between the British and Japanese armies since 1902. This essay charts the human impact of the First World War on Anglo-Japanese reltions.

Louis Allen studied Japanese at SOAS during the war, and worked in Burma as a translator and interrogator. Here he describes his experiences of that time, as well as a remarkable reunion twenty years later.

Major C.A.L. Yate VC (1872-1914) had extensive dealings with Japan, and absorbed much of its culture and in particular the 'warrior spirit' of the country. This portrait traces his time in Japan, and its influence as a possible factor in his suicide to evade recapture during the First World War.

This essay details the miltary and diplomatic career of Major-General F.S.G. Piggott (1883-1966), whose efforts to secure peace and improve relations between Japan and Britain were fatally clouded by an uncritical love for Japan. Following the Pacific War he devoted his life to the restoration of Anglo-Japanese friendship.

This chapter details Malcolm Kennedy's (1895-1935) time in Japan as an army officer sent to study Japanese while attached to a Japanese army unit, his subsequent work at Shell Oil, and his stance as an apologist in the build up to the Second World War.

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

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.

This portrait considers Peter Hewett's (1920-82) major contribution to the post-war growth inAnglo-Japanese trade.

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.

This portrait details Philip Malins' (1919-) military career and key role of  in postwar reconciliation between Britain and Japan.

Within writer R.V.C. Bodley's (1892-1970) long and varied life lies a year in which his journalistic career took him to Japan. This essay details his writings relating to the country.

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.

Sir Alvary Gascgoine (1946-1951) headed the British liaison mission in Tokyo from 1946 to '51, and was responsible for establishing postive relations with General Douglas MacArthur.

Sir Alvary Gascgoine (1946-1951) headed the British liaison mission in Tokyo from 1946 to '51, and was responsible for establishing postive relations with General Douglas MacArthur.

This article details Sir Ernest Mason Satow's (1843-1929) further pursuits in Japan between 1873 to 1884. 

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 provides an account of Julian Ridsdale's (1915-2004) interest in Japan and politics, and how these two came together in his long service to Anglo-Japanese Parliamentary relations.

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.

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.

An in-depth account of the build-up to and consequences of the British bombardment of Kagoshima, following the attack on three British by Satsuma retainers near Yokohama.

This essay uses the tragic death of Melville James Cox (1885-1940) in Tokyo to assess the misconduct of the Kempeitai in arresting British citizens during the Second World War.

Vice Admiral Sir A. Kuper's report on the action from his flagship HMS Euryalus in the Straits of Shimonoseki on 15 September 1864.

In this chapter, the lives of Sir Francis Taylor Piggott (1852-1925) and his son F.S.G. Piggott (1883-1966) are detailed in their relation to Japan and involvement with the Japan Society of London. Sir Francis was one of the founders of the Society, and his son was the guiding energy behind its post-war revival.

This essay details the role of William Patrick - Britain's appointed judge - in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 1946-48, along with the problems faced by the Tribunal.

William Beasley (1919-2006) was a pioneer in introducing Japanese history into British academic circles as a teacher, researcher and author. This essay recounts his career in academia.

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.

Yanada Senji (1906-1972) played a key role in the wartime training of translators and interrogators at SOAS. This portait details his academic career and the deep personal struggles associated with providing key assistance to the war effort against his homeland.