Japan Society E-Library

Education (see also 'Teachers', 'Modernisation')

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Kuramatsu Tadashi

This paper focuses on Admiral Viscount Saitō Makoto's (1858-1936) early career when Japan was emerging as a modern state in the Meiji and Taishō periods under the major influence of Britain.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: Snowden, Paul

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary had its origins as a pioneer project by British English teachers in Japan. This portrait considers the Japan career of its first editor A.S. Hornby (1898-1978) and his significant contribution to language learning.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Checkland, Olive, and Norio, Tamaki

Alexander Allan Shand (1844-1930) taught Japanese bankers the elements of Western banking, auditing and accounting, and later smoothed the way for the Japanese government to borrow on the London money market.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Turner, Louis

This portrait looks at doyen historian Arnold Toynbee's (1889-1975) cult status in Japan, detailing his three visits to the country.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Ion, Hamish

Arthur Lloyd (1852-1911) is best known as a missionary, teacher, author and pioneer in the study of Japanese Buddhism. He is also regarded - along with David Murray and Guido Verbeck - as one of.the pioneers of Japan's modern educational system.

Book: Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities
Author: Ballhatchet, Helen

This chapter details the life of Baba Tatsui (1850-1888) and his attempts to introduce Japan to western ideas of government, with particular focus on his time spent in Victorian Britain, where he developed a great understanding of the political system and was not entirely uncritical of Britain and its role in the world.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Imamura Akira

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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Hearley, Graham

This essay talks about five British participants of The Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Programme. The JET Programme participants are involved in language guidance (rather than simply teaching) and are also involved in overall cultural communication. In the appendix of the chapter, the focus is on British English Teachers in Japan before the JET Programme was established in 1987. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Nish, Alison

This essay charts Britain's contribution to the development of rugby in Japan, particularly as it relates to sporting activities within educational institutions.

Book: Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities
Author: Hunter, Janet

This chapter covers the development of technological education in early Meiji Japan, including a profile of the career of Kikuchi Kyōzō (1859-1942).

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Hoare, James Edward

Captain Francis Brinkley provides the subject of this essay, in particular his journalism and scholarship regarding Japan over his forty year career in the country.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Jarvis, Suzette

Captain Oswald Tuck RN played a very significant role in the teaching of Japanese to those involved in the Japanese Section of Bletchley Park during the Second World War. This essay charts his naval and teaching career, especially at the Bedford Japanese School.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Kabrna, Paul

Cargill Knott (1856-1922) was among a number of foreign specialists invited to Japan by the Meiji Government. During his time in the country, he conducted extensive research in the field of seismology, undertaking a magnetic survey of Japan.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Blacker, Carmen

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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Dore, Ronald

This essay details the contribution of Frank Daniels (1900-83) towards teaching Japanese during the Second World War, and also his role in establishing a major centre for Japanese Studies at SOAS.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Morita Yoshihiko

Despite only being in Japan for a year and a half before his death, Edmund Morel (1841-71) made significant contributions to the modernization of Japan. This portrait details and discusses his engineering efforts in Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Kikuchi Yoshiyuki

Edward Divers (1837-1912) and Robert William Atkinson (1850-1929) were influential in the development of the field of chemistry in Meiji Japan. This essay details their respective contributions, along with their thoughts on Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Kumazawa Eriko

This portrait explores Edward Kinch's (1848-1920) contribution to the development of agricultural chemistry in Japan during the Meiji era, including the first analytical study of soil, fertilizer and crops in Japan. After leaving Japan, Kinch was influential in introducing a number of Japanese foods to the rest of the world.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Snowden, Paul

Edward Vivian Getby's (1892-1955) was one of the central figures in the establishment of the field of English as a foreign language. This essay details the influence of Japan on his career, and looks at his contributions in relation to those of A.S. Hornby, with whom he worked on the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Greenwood, Russell

This creative portrait details the experience and framing of Japan in the mind and writing of D.J. Enright during the early fifties.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Kornicki, Peter

The subject of this portrait is the remarkable life and career of Eric Bertrand Ceadel (1921-79), founding father of Japanese studies at Cambridge University.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: Kochi Jun

This portait charts the role of F.W. Strange (d.1889) in the growth and promotion of rowing within Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Freeth, Rob

This essay recounts Florence Freeth's (1871-1946) pioneering missionary work in Kyushu, where she established a number of kindergartens and nursaries.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Kornicki, Peter

This essay provides a re-assessment of 'forgotten figure' Frederick Victor Dickins' (1838-1915) career in Japan as a scholar, lawyer and contributor to Japanese Studies.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Dobson, Sebastian

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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Fraser, Eileen

This essay consdiers G.S. Fraser's (1915-80) life and in particular his time as a poet and teacher in Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Daniels, Gordon

Hagihara Nobutoshi (1926-2001), writer, journalist, tv commentator and internationalist, has been for long time involved in activities in the UK. During his time in different foundations, he strongly supported British scholars and provided platforms for prominent British academics. This chapter tells his story. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Smith, Richard C., and Imura, Motomichi

The subject of this portait is Harlod E. Palmer (1877-1949), 'Linguistic Advisor' to the Ministry of Education in Japan, and his outstanding contribution to teaching English as a foreign language as well as the establishment of the Institute for Research in English Teaching.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Checkland, Olive

This essay considers the important contribution of Henry Dyer to the success of the nascent engineering profession in Japan and to the modernization of the Japanese education system.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Saito Yoshifumi

Grammarist Ichikawa Sanki (1886-1970) made a significant contribution to the development of English philology in Japan. This essay examines the interaction between Britain and Sanki throughout his scholarly career.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Yamamoto Yumiyo

Inoue Masaru (1843-1910) was one of the Choshu five - ambitious young men sent to England to study in 1863. This essay details the significant contribution of Inoue Masaru to the construction of Japanese railways, and the influence of his time and study in Britain on his civic career.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Cobbing, Andrew

Itō Hirobumi (1841-1909) was Japan's first cabinet prime minister, and this essay asseses the influence of his time as a student in Britain on his career in Imperial Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Pedlar, Neil

James Alfred Ewing taught physics in Meiji Japan, and helped to inspire the country's first generation of modern physicists.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Koyama Noburu

This portrait discusses James Summers' (1828-91) contributions to the teaching of English Literature in Japan, along with a discussion of his work in relation to the Taisei Shimbun - one of the first Japanese language newspapers published outside of Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Blacker, Carmen

John Corner is offten described as a colourful and controversial biologist, and this portrait considers his career and contributions to botany.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Nish, Ian

Dubbed a 'master of the various problems of our Far Eastern Ally', John Harrington Gubbins (1852-1929) enjoyed a remarkable and significant diplomatic career in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Book: British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972
Author: Nish, Ian

Detailing John Harrington Gubbins's (1852-1929) long relationship with Japan, beginning as a student interpretor with the Far East Consular Service through to dealings with the British Legation in Japan. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Pedlar, Neil

This portrait covers the writing and journalistic career of John Morris in the build up to the Second World War, and his contact with George Orwell during his time with the BBC.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Imamura Akira

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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Koyama, Noboru

Japanese art became fashionable in Britain in the second part of the 19th century, when Japanese native art dealers started to arrive in London. This chapter tells the story of these art dealers, mainly concentrating on the life of Katō Shōzō (1863-1930) and Tomita Kumasaku (1872-1953). 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Maclean, Nicolas

This essay provides an account of sociologist Keith Thurley's (1931-92) lifelong commitment to industrial cooperation between Europe and Asia, and to the study of contemporary Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Brown, Yu-Ying

Kenneth Gardner (1924-95) held senior posts in the British Museum and British Library, and was instrumental in these posts in promoting Japanese culture and Anglo-Japanese relations. This essay charts his career and significance within his field and beyond, including his war service as part of Translators V.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Koyama Noboru

This portrait considers how Kikuchi Dairoku's (1855-1917) exposure to England and his education there meant that his own career anticipated the development of Japan at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Murray, Paul

The outstanding Western interpreter of Meiji Japan, Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), provides the subject for this portrait; his time in America, Japan, and his relationships to his contemporaries.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Hunter, Janet

This essay considers the impact of Maejima Hisoka's (1835-1919) visit to Britain in the early 1870s, after which he founded Japan's postal service.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Blacker, Carmen

This essay considers the remarkable scholarly career of the brilliant but eccentric polymath Minakata Kumagusu (1867-1941), an expert in natural history, folklore and classicism, as well as an assessment of the significance of his time in London to his work.

Book: Japanese Envoys in Britain 1862-1964: A Century of Diplomatic Exchange
Author: Nish, Ian

This portrait charts the political career of Mori Arinori (1847-1889), a Meiji statesman whose time in Britain played a significant role in his move from liberalism to conservatism.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Cobbing, Andrew

This portrait charts the political career of Mori Arinori (1847-89), a Meiji statesman whose time in Britain played a significant role in his move from liberalism to conservatism.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Ohta Akiko

This portrait details the significance of Nakamura Masanao's (1832-91) encounter with Victorian Britain and his subsequent translation into Japanese of Samuel Smiles' Self Help.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Tomida Hiroko

A founder of domestic science in Japan and an advocate of women's education, ÅŒe Sumi (1875-1948)  spent much time studying the subject in Britain. This portrait assesses the impact of Britain on her career.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: Purvis, Phillida

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

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Kornicki, Peter

In this chapter Peter Kornicki describes how he became the first non-Japanese since the end of the war to be given a professorial position at a Japanese national university.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Ruxton, Ian

William Edward Ayrton (1847-1908) was a British physicist and electrical engineer of considerable verve and distinction, becoming the first professor of Electrical Engineering in Japan. This portrait details his highly successful career in Japan's educational institutions.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Hatcher, John

Deeply attached to English life as he was, the poet Ralph Hodgson (1871-1962) uprooted himself and spent twelve years in Japan. This essay considers his profound love for England twinned with a truly internationally-minded outlook.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Everest, Philip; Sarah Johnson; Adrian McGreevey; and Susanna Pfeiffer

These accounts from four returning teachers from the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) programme give an insight both into life in modern Japan for young people and into the Japanese education system.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Nish, Ian

A portrait of Richard Storry's (1913-82) life-long affair with Japan as a teacher, writer and researcher.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Hughes, George

The poet Robert Nichols (1893-1944) provides an example of extreme culture shock suffered by a British visitor to Japan, and this portrait charts his poetic career and interactions with Japan as a foreign teacher at Tokyo University.

Book: Japan Experiences - Fifty Years, One Hundred Views: Post-War Japan Through British Eyes
Author: Buckley, Roger

Roger Buckley reflects on the difficulties of being a teacher in Japan both at a language school and a university.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Kikuchi Yoshiyuki

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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: Yamanouchi Hisaaki

Saitō Takeshi (1887-1982) contributed significantly to the development of English Studies in Japan, as well as inspiring the field of 'British [Cultural] Studies', and this portrait outlines his impact on academia in Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Matsumura, Jerry K.

This portrait considers Takaki Kanehiro's (1849-1920) career, character and contributions as Surgeon General to the Japanese Imperial Navy. Of particular note is his education in, and subsequent dealings with, Britain throughout his life.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Iwagami Kazunori and Paride Stortin

Takakusu Junjirō (1866-1945), played an essential role in the establishment of modern Indology and Buddhist studies in the Japanese academy. His academic growth has been fostered in Europe, especially during his time at Oxford University. This chapter explains his career path and achievements in Buddhist studies. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Ruxton, Ian

Tatsuno Kingo (1854-1919) was arguably the leading Japanese architect of his day, and master-minded much of the Western-style architecture of Meiji Japan. This essay examines his general architectural career, as well as his dealings with Britain and its influence upon his work.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Gow, Ian

This portrait considers the significance of the second British Naval Mission, the Douglas Mission (1873-79) in laying the foundations of basic naval officer training in Meiji Japan and modernising their navy.

Book: Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

This volume was published on the occasion of the centenary of the Japan Society, and in this chapter Sir Hugh Cortazzi chronicles its hundred year history, from its founding at the 1891 Congress of Orientalists, via the two world wars and a number of royal visits, through to the 1991 Japan Festival and an assessment of the Society's then challenging state of affairs.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Kamide, Mayu

Chapter 63 concentrates on The Royal Academy of Arts and Japan, covering 140 years of activities. Highly relevant events are analysed here. More specifically, among others, The Great Japan Exhibition of 1981-1982 and an exhibition of the most distinguished Japanese woodblock designer, Hokusai. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Jackson, Neil

Thomas James Waters (1842-98) was the first Professor of Architecture in Japan. This portrait provides an analysis of his personal evangelical convictions and his impact on Japan as an architect-engineer during the early Meiji period.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Checkland, Olive

This essay considers the little-known W.K. Burton's (1856-99) outstanding contribution to the municipal infrastructure of Meiji Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Haffenden, John

This portrait details the colourful teaching career of the great literary scholar and critic William Empson (1906-84) in Japan, and provides a fascinating insight into the life and attitudes of an eccentric foreigner in an unfamiliar and increasingly threatening culture.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Nish, Ian

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.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Cobbing, Andrew

This biography offers an account of the life of Yamao Yōzō (1937-1917), one of the ChōshÅ« Five and a pioneer of engineering and education in the Meiji period.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume X
Author: Tomida, Hiroko

Yasui Tetsu (1870-1945) has been an exceptional figure in the development of women’s higher education. She helped establish the Tokyo Joshi Daigaku (Tokyo Women’s Christian University) and her works have been deeply influenced by her studies at the Cambridge Training College for Women Teachers. Her life in Japan is well documented, however less is known about her experience in the UK. This article focuses on her time in Britain. 

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
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.

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