About the Book
This book takes an in-depth look at the study of Japan in contemporary Britain, highlighting the many strengths but also pointing out some weaknesses, while at the same time offering a valuable historical record of the origins and development of Japanese Studies in British universities and other institutions. It comprises essays written by scholars from universities all over Britain – from Edinburgh and Newcastle to Cardiff, SOAS and Oxbridge+, as well as contributions from various supporting foundations and organizations – from the British Association of Japanese Studies (BAJS) to the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC). It opens with an historical overview by Peter Kornicki, followed by chapters on the important role of missionaries in advancing Japanese language studies in pre-war Japan by Hamish Ion and the contribution of the British consular and military officers before 1941 by Jim Hoare. Japanese Studies in Britain gives a snapshot of the present state of Japanese Studies in Britain. It also provides an important new benchmark and point of reference regarding the present options for studying Japan at British universities. It offers in addition a wider perspective on the role, relevance and future direction of Japanese Studies for academia, business and government, students planning their future careers and more generally the world of education, as well as readers interested in the developing relationship between Britain and Japan.
Table of Contents:
Preface, Acknowledgements, List of Contributors, List of Relevant Biographical Portraits, Part I: History, 1 A Brief History of Japanese Studies in Britain - from the 1860s to the Twenty-first Century, (Peter Kornicki), 2 British Missionaries and Japanese Studies in Pre-war Japan, (Hamish Ion), 3 British Consular and Military Officers in Japan before 1941, (J. E. Hoare), Part II: Japanese Studies at Universities, 4 Cambridge University, (Richard Bowring), 5 Japanese Library Collections: Cambridge and Elsewhere, (Koyama Noboru), 6 Cardiff University, (Christopher Hood), 7 Durham University, (Don Starr), 8 University of East Anglia, (Simon Kaner), 9 University of Edinburgh, (Ian Astley), (Helen Parker) and (Urs Matthias Zachmann), 10 University of Leeds, (Mark Williams), 11 London School of Economics, (Ian Nish) and (Janet Hunter), 12 Manchester University, (Jonathan Bunt), 13 University of Newcastle, (James Babb) and (Joanne Smith Finley), 14 Oxford University, (Roger Goodman) and (Arthur Stockwin), 15 Oxford Brookes, (Joy Hendry), 16 Sheffield University, (Gordon Daniels), 17 SOAS, University of London, (Andrew Gerstle) and (Alan Cummings), 18 The White Rose East Asia Centre:, Collaboration in Japanese Studies Between the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield, (Glenn Hook), 19 Japanese Studies at Other Universities in Britain, (Hugh Cortazzi), Part III: Foundations and Other Organizations, 20 The British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS), (Caroline Rose), 21 The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and Japanese Studies in UK Universities, (Jaso James), 22 The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation: Japanese Studies Funding and Policy, 1985-2016, (Stephen McEnally), 23 The Japan Foundation's Support for Japanese Studies in Britain, (Ishikawa Yui), 24 The Japan Society and Japanese Studies in the UK, (David Warren), 25 Japanese Studies in the UK: The Role of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, (Polly Watson), 26 The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, (Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere), 27 The Tanaka Fund and its Impact on Japanese Studies Library Collections in the, UK through the JFEC and the JLG Cooperative Acquisitions Scheme, Gill Goddard, Bibliography, Index.
About the Author :
Hugh Cortazzi studied Japanese at SOAS during the Second World War and later joined the Diplomatic Service. He served as British Ambassador to Japan from 1980 to 1984 and was subsequently a long-serving Chairman of the Japan Society amongst other roles. He has published many works on Japan, including Isles of Gold: Antique Maps of Japan (1983), Victorians in Japan: In and Around the Treaty Ports (1987), The Japanese Achievement (1990) and his memoir Japan and Back and Places Elsewhere (1998). More recently, he has edited volumes IV to X of Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits (2002-2016), and The Growing Power of Japan, 1967-1972: Analysis and Assessments from John Pilcher and the British Embassy, Tokyo (2015). Peter Kornicki is Emeritus Professor of Japanese at the University of Cambridge. He taught at the University of Tasmania and Kyoto University from 1978 to 1984. He is a fellow of the British Academy, where he is chair of the East and Southeast Asia Panel. His publications include The Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century (1998) and The Female as Subject: Women and the Book in Japan (co-edited, 2010) as well as a catalogue of collections of Japanese books in libraries in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. Sir Hugh Cortazzi, GCMG, was British Ambassador to Japan 1980-1984 and Chairman of The Japan Society, London, 1985-1995. He has written extensively on Japan. His many books include Isles of Gold: Antique Maps of Japan (1983), The Japanese Achievement (1990) and his memoir Japan and Back and Places Elsewhere (1998). He compiled and edited seven volumes of Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, most recently volume X (2016). Peter Kornicki is Emeritus Professor of Japanese, Robinson College, University of Cambridge. He earlier taught at the University of Tasmania and Kyoto University. His monographs include The Book in Japan (1998) and Languages, Scripts and Chinese Texts in East Asia (2018). He is a Fellow of the British Academy.
