First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Parkes ruled the British legation to Meiji Japan with a commitment to work and the construction of a civilian Japan which aroused profound admiration and irritation among both Westerners and Japanese. First major study of Parkes since the Dickens/Lane-Poole 'Life' of 1894.

Based on bank and official archives, this book focuses on Japan's financial activities abroad - in particular, Japan's borrowings. This is the story of Japan's success: a "doubtful" borrower in the 1870s, it became respected after the Russo-Japan war. This study also highlights the mechanism of loan issues on the international capital markets. First published in 1994, this title is part of the Bloomsbury Academic Collections series.

The renowned Japanese scholar “brings us as close to the inner life of the Meiji emperor as we are ever likely to get” (The New York Times Book Review). When Emperor Meiji began his rule in 1867, Japan was a splintered empire dominated by the shogun and the daimyos, cut off from the outside world, staunchly antiforeign, and committed to the traditions of the past. Before long, the shogun surrendered to the emperor, a new constitution was adopted, and Japan emerged as a modern, industrialized state. Despite the length of his reign, little has been written about the strangely obscured figure of Meiji himself, the first emperor ever to meet a European. But now, Donald Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid and sometimes violent change during this pivotal period in Japan’s history. In this vivid and engrossing biography, we move with the emperor through his early, traditional education; join in the formal processions that acquainted the young emperor with his country and its people; observe his behavior in court, his marriage, and his relationships with various consorts; and follow his maturation into a “Confucian” sovereign dedicated to simplicity, frugality, and hard work. Later, during Japan’s wars with China and Russia, we witness Meiji’s struggle to reconcile his personal commitment to peace and his nation’s increasingly militarized experience of modernization. Emperor of Japan conveys in sparkling prose the complexity of the man and offers an unrivaled portrait of Japan in a period of unique interest. “Utterly brilliant . . . the best history in English of the emergence of modern Japan.”—Los Angeles Times

An examination of the first 11 US ministers to Japan, exploring the information, expectations and values they took with them and how they shaped US diplomacy with Japan in the late 19th century. It shows that the issue of trade was an ongoing 19th-century problem.

An in-depth study of French policy in Japan and the bakufu during the bakamatsu period. Includes chapters on the mission of Baron Gros, Franco-Japanese commercial relations 1859-1863, the Ikeda mission, Leon Roches and the new French policy, anglo-french differences, the Yokosuka arsenal, military assistance, Roches and Tokugawa Keiki, and the Meiji Restoration and the failure of the Roches policy.