Customer Reviews

The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Tokyo (1895-1900): A Diplomat Returns to Japan (Hardcover)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was first published in Tokyo in 2003, as a fairly expensive limited edition hardcover aimed at the Japanese university library market. I felt that I would like a wider readership since Satow is well-known for his Guide to Diplomatic Practice (first edition 1917, sixth edition 2009) and A Diplomat in Japan (first published in 1921). Therefore I have produced this paperback edition.

Apart from Sir Harry Parkes, British Minister in Japan 1865-83, Sir Ernest Satow was the most significant and influential diplomat of the Meiji period (1868-1912), and he was much better liked and appreciated by the Japanese themselves than Parkes who was considered tiresomely aggressive and overbearing, even if his advice and opinions were sometimes useful. Satow in contrast had a deep understanding and knowledge of Japan's culture, history and language. He was a scholar as well as a diplomat, a meticulous English gentleman of mild and courteous manners but also high intellect and inner steel who did not shrink from tough arguments and battles when necessary. These diaries help to reveal the character and daily thoughts of a formidable, perceptive and hitherto relatively unapproachable master of the art of diplomacy.