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A Diplomat in Japan: The Inner History of the Critical Years in the Evolution of Japan When the Ports Were Opened and the Monarchy Restored
by
Based on the author’s detailed diary, personal encounters, and keen memory, this book is a record of the inner history of the critical years of social and political upheaval that accompanied Japan’s first encounters with the West around the time of the Meiji Restoration.
Sir Ernest Mason Satow (1843–1929) was a member of the British legation in Tokyo for twenty-one years.
Sir Ernest Mason Satow (1843–1929) was a member of the British legation in Tokyo for twenty-one years.
Paperback, 472 pages
Published
April 1st 2007
by Stone Bridge Press
(first published 1821)
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Start your review of A Diplomat in Japan: The Inner History of the Critical Years in the Evolution of Japan When the Ports Were Opened and the Monarchy Restored
First published in 1921 and in print ever since, "A Diplomat in Japan" is the best eyewitness account of the turmoil that engulfed Japan in the run-up to the 1868 Meiji Restoration. Satow's real strength is as an observer and participant in the history of Japan at the time; his superb language skills allowing him to meet and befriend many of the key players in this restoration drama. The book actually downplays his own importance in persuading his diplomatic superiors to throw Great Britain's co
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Ernest Satow is now halfway legendary in certain circles. His book on the practise of diplomacy is synonymous with the art of international relations in much the same way that Roget is synonymous with the thesaurae or Webster is synonymous with dictionaries. But this book came much before all that.
Satow came to Japan as the first British diplomat to receive training in Japanese when he was in his late teens, in the mid 1850's. His main credential for this undertaking was that he had studied Chin ...more
Satow came to Japan as the first British diplomat to receive training in Japanese when he was in his late teens, in the mid 1850's. His main credential for this undertaking was that he had studied Chin ...more
Satow was in Japan during the meiji restoration and was witness to some key events. The commentary is sympathetic and interesting. In some ways it throws light on the wider topic of colonialism and 19th century trade between the East and the West.
Eminently put-downable - a great disappointment, because the subject is fascinating and Satow was the author of the great manuals of diplomatic practice. But it's a big bore.
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