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.

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.