Interpreting the Mikado&#039;s Empire: The Writings of William Elliot Griffis

Joseph M. Henning

doi:10.5771/9781793626509

Summary

For more than fifty years, William Elliot Griffis (1843–1928) chronicled a rapidly changing Meiji Japan and its people. He was unequaled in the length of his writing career and the breadth of his work, which illuminated the entire sweep of Meiji history and reached a multiplicity of American audiences. A teacher in the provincial city of Fukui and later in Tokyo, he reported in magazine essays on the last days of feudalism in Japan and its aspirations to become a modern nation. After returning to the United States, he continued to write. In dozens of books and hundreds of articles, he covered topics including the samurai class, daily life, racial theory, empire, and war. Extending his reach even further, he was a tireless public speaker and delivered thousands of lectures on Japan. He described his self-appointed task as “interpreting Japan to America, with voice and pen.” This anthology brings together the best of his writing, offering a dynamic perspective on Meiji Japan through the eyes of a colorful and engaging writer.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2021
Copyright year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-2649-3
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-2650-9
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 190
Product type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
3. Editorial Note No access
4. 1. Notes No access
1. Part One No access
2. 1. 1. A Ride on the Tōkaidō No access
    2. In Tōkiō, the Eastern Capital No access
    3. Swords and Revolvers No access
    4. Good-bye to Tōkiō No access
    5. Notes No access
3. 1. 1. The Daimiō and My Students No access
    2. Life in a Japanese House No access
    3. A Japanese City No access
    4. Notes No access
4. 1. 1. Leaves from My Journal No access
    2. New Japan No access
    3. A Modernized Japanese City No access
    4. Notes No access
1. Part Two No access
2. 1. 1. The Constitution No access
    2. Industrial Power No access
    3. Notes No access
3. 1. 1. The War with China No access
    2. The War with Russia No access
    3. The Elder Statesmen of Japan No access
    4. Notes No access
4. 1. 1. The Japanese Nation in Evolution No access
    2. Our Honor and Shame with Japan No access
    3. Are the Japanese Mongolian? No access
    4. Notes No access
5. 1. Notes No access
Glossary No access Pages 165 - 170
1. MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS No access
2. Selected Works by William Elliot Griffis No access
3. Primary Sources No access
4. Secondary Sources No access
Index No access Pages 179 - 188
About the Editor No access Pages 189 - 190