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

A brilliant linguist, Sir Ernest Satow (1843-1929) was recruited into the British consular service as a student interpreter in 1861. The following year he arrived in Japan, where he witnessed the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji restoration of imperial rule. Drafted in the 1880s while he was consul-general in Bangkok, this 1921 account is based on the voluminous diaries Satow kept whilst in Japan between 1862 and 1869. As an interpreter he was present at many of the meetings between the diplomatic and military representatives of the Great Powers and of the Shogunate. Satow gives his opinions of the various officials he met, and describes the rising tensions that led to conflict between the Shogunate and the Emperor, civil war, and the reassertion of the Emperor's power. Satow's classic Guide to Diplomatic Practice (1917) is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Author: Ernest Satow
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 03/05/2015
Pages: 442
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.98d
ISBN: 9781108080958

About the Author
Satow (1843-1929) arrived in Japan in 1862 and remained there for 21 years as a secretary of the British Legation of Tokyo, becoming an avid student of Japanese language, history, religion, and customs. He later served as Minister in Siam, Uruguay, Morocco, and China. He died at age 86 in England.