SIR ERNEST SATOW IN JAPAN, 1862-69

SIR ERNEST SATOW IN JAPAN, 1862-9

Ian Ruxton IAJS

Kyoto 13 December 2014

A Diplomat in Japan – first published in 1921• Very famous and has appeared in many editions, notably the first edition and the

Oxford Historical Reprint in the late 1960s which keeps the original pagination. （ Later paperback editions, e.g. Tuttle and Stone Bridge Press, do not.)

• Written in two stages: 1. 1885-87 when Satow was Minister in Bangkok - his memory of Japan was fresh, and a diary which he claims in the Preface he “kept almost uninterruptedly” (in fact there are some lengthy gaps) from his leaving home in November 1861 was the foundation 2. September 1919 – January 1921. when some younger relations urged him to complete it. He transcribed his ‘journals’ (diaries) and used Confidential Print etc. He wrote the Preface in January 1921.

Gordon Daniels in his introduction to the 1968 Oxford edition states: • “…though there are divergencies between the book and the original

diaries, the two correspond so closely that the advantages of publishing the diaries as against reprinting the memoirs are little more than marginal.”

• HOWEVER more than one third of the diaries did not appear in the book, and much was altered in significant ways.

• The account of Satow’s stay in China (January-August 1862) is omitted.

• In the Japan section of the diaries there are long gaps, the longest being almost one year: 30 November 1865 – 26 November 1866.

For historians only interested in Japan: • These diaries provide a franker, more immediate account than the one

in A Diplomat in Japan. • The diaries are Satow’s raw and unprocessed experiences, written as

the events happened. In this sense they are day-to-day ‘journal-ism’ (the so-called ‘first rough draft of history’) and of course were written by a young man. Some of the language has been sanitized in the book.

• So it is the diaries where we really see Satow as a human being and how he progressed from a “scholarly, ambitious but disrespectful teenager” to the highly responsible and competent man of the world of 1869.

Satow in 1861 vs. Satow in 1869

1861 – eighteen years old, innocent, gangly, religious, socially awkward boy; highly intelligent and well-read, with a great appetite for reading and learning, but an immature and sometimes ill-behaved product of a strict, middle-class, non-conformist family.

1869 – 26 years old on June 30th, returns to England on leave mature, confident, accomplished, worldly, with a deep understanding of the Japanese language, culture and many members of the elite, as well as the events of the Bakumatsu. Financially independent, sexually experienced, and with a solid career in the Consular service established. The most competent Japanese linguist at the Legation, and thus extremely useful.

The offer to come home to England• The point of no return came on 26 March 1864, when Satow was not

quite 21 years old. In answer to a letter he had written in October 1863 his father offered him £100 a year (half what he was then earning as an interpreter) to come home and study law. This part is NOT in A Diplomat in Japan.

• Satow on receiving the letter was greatly perplexed. • “On the one hand a free and easy life with something of adventure, and

means of gratifying my desire of studying Jap[anese];”• “on the other, fortune, probable if not certain, the prospect of marriage

& of being able to live a decent life instead of the immoral one I have led lately, the pleasures of travel in Europe & the enjoyment of good music.”

Satow thought he would go home, and even wrote to his family indicating this, but had an interview with the Minister Rutherford Alcock on March 4th which helped to change his mind:

• “I remained thus up to the date of Mar[ch] 4, when I had an interview with Alcock, & asked him what chance I had of promotion & what were my prospects were [sic]; he replied very kindly, listened to my arguments very patiently & promised to write home for my promotion. But altho’ I decided to stay, I am not quite sure whether this was the whole reason, for after all it was small comfort.”

So what were the real reasons for his decision to stay in Japan? “It is more probable that I felt that to leave Japan & return to that dull old England, would be to destroy the real happiness of my life & to cut off all the ties I have formed during the last 2½ years. Not only ties of friendship, for they are weak compared with what I have at home, but attachment to the country, to the language, & to the people.”

Satow concludes this diary entry with a statement of his ambition: • “Having now decided which course to take, I must stick to it, and try to win

the position of a great Japanese scholar, for the[to] know this language well is my intention, & to this end are all my efforts directed. Very few European books ever open themselves before me, and I am gradually losing every tincture of my original knowledge of ancient learning. The reward I hope will be a great one when it comes.”

• This is a rare entry and reveals Satow’s state of mind at the time. It was omitted from the published book, probably because it was too personal, and inappropriate for the history he was writing of the Bakumatsu.

• The entry for March 26th is not merely for that day, but is a kind of summary of events, including the interview with Alcock on March 4th. This quite often happens when Satow leaves gaps between entries.

The Diary entry for 26 March 1864 (digital image from microfilm)

Shipwreck of H.M.S. Rattler in 1868

“From September 8 to October 17 Adams and I were absent on a wild-goose chase after the Russians who were reported to be occupying the northern coast of Yezo [Hokkaido], in the course of which H.M.S. Rattler, in which we had embarked, was wrecked in Sôya Bay. But as this was not concerned with the progress of political events in Japan, it seems unnecessary to occupy space in narrating our experiences. We were rescued by the French corvette Dupleix, Captain du Petit Thouars.” (A Diplomat in Japan, end of Ch. XXXII, p. 385 in first edition)

Why did Satow omit the account of the Rattler expedition in 1868?

The subtitle of A Diplomat in Japan is: “The Inner History of the Critical Years in the Evolution of Japan when the Ports were opened and the Monarchy restored, Recorded by a Diplomatist who took an active Part in the Events of that time, with an Account of his Personal Experiences during that period”

The Rattler expedition was a mere ‘wild goose chase’ so not deemed worthy of inclusion, though it is quite interesting about what he saw and experienced in Hokkaido. (He also does not mention his trip to Hakodate in October 1865.)