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.

This portrait consdiers how Admiral Sir John Fisher's (1841-1920) role in Anglo-Japanese naval relations played into a larger theatre of war and diplomacy in Europe and the far East.

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.

This portrait considers the history of Britain's shipbuilding links with Japan through the firms Armstrong's and Vickers.

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 essay recounts Captain W.C. Pakenham RN's (1861-1933) role in supporting Japanese naval efforts during the Russo-Japanese war.

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

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Although in his early years Admiral Katō Hiroharu (1870-1939) admired Britain, in his later career he understandably placed Japan's naval interests ahead of any residual affection for the country. This essay considers the early part of his career, during which he played a significant role in Anglo-Japanese naval cooperation.

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.

Initially an ambassador for British aviation and friend of Japan, Lord Sempill (1893-1965) ended his career in disgrace having received payments for providing Japan with information during 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.

This essay is an attempt to describe the highlights and significance of British royal visits to Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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

Interactions with Japan only played a very short part in Sir Henry Keppel's (1809-1904) naval career, but the few years of his involvement saw the collapse of the bakufu and the Meiji Restoration. This essay details his short, but significant, contribution to Anglo-Japanese relations, particularly with regard to the British response to the Meiji Restoration.

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 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.

This essay uses the loss of HMS Rattler off Cape Soya (Hokkaido) to underline the inadequacy of Admiralty charts of Japanese coastal waters and the difficulty of maneuvering wooden ships in adverse weather conditions. It also displays the willingness of the Japanese to assist the stricken sailors.

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

This chapter considers the career of Admiral Yamanashi Katsunoshin (1877-1967) including his key involvement in the Naval Limitations Treaty and time in the Imperial Japanese Navy. 

Tōgō Heihachirō's (1848-1934) naval career was one intimately interlinked with Britain, and this essay charts his illustrious role in international diplomacy and the admiralty of the Japanese Imperial Navy.

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.