Contact
Expertise Summary
I can supervise research students in the areas of East Asian cultural and international history, particularly in the context of East-West relations and modern Japan. I am interested in supervising work that explores themes in these areas such as travel, diplomacy, communications, society and cultural exchange.
Teaching Summary
The modules I teach cover my broad interest in early modern and modern Japan, and East Asia's interaction with the West. My second year option 'The Tokugawa World, 1600-1868' provides an introduction… read more
Research Summary
My research is on cultural relations between Japan and the West, initially with a focus on the experience of samurai travellers and the diaries they kept during their explorations abroad. My PhD on… read more
The modules I teach cover my broad interest in early modern and modern Japan, and East Asia's interaction with the West. My second year option 'The Tokugawa World, 1600-1868' provides an introduction to Japanese culture and society during the era of self-imposed seclusion before the opening of the country in the nineteenth century. My special subject in the third year is on 'Samurai Revolution: reinventing Japan,1853-78', which provides an opportunity to explore, from various angles, some of the key episodes in the tumultuous last years of the Tokugawa regime and the emergence of the Meiji State. I have also taught a third year option on 'Guns, Trade and Justice: the treaty port system in China, Japan and Korea, 1842-1947', which investigates the encounter with the West and the power relations involved in commercial centres such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama.
Current Research
My research is on cultural relations between Japan and the West, initially with a focus on the experience of samurai travellers and the diaries they kept during their explorations abroad. My PhD on this topic resulted in a monograph, The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain (1998), and I was subsequently involved in a major project to translate the official account of the Iwakura Em
bassy's travels in the West. Published in English for the first time in 2002 this chronicle offers a wealth of insight into the Meiji State's perspectives on Western models at a formative stage in the development of modern Japan. I have subsequently written several studies on Meiji diplomats involved in negotiating the revision of Japan's 'Unequal Treaties', and by extension ended up writing on some Meiji statesmen and British foreign secretaries as well. I have also collaborated on a comparative cultural study of Meiji Japan and Victorian Britain (2006) through a biographical work on a samurai called Kawada Ryokichi, based on the letters he received during the years he spent as an overseas student in the Glasgow shipyards.
Besides this focus on the nineteenth century, I have developed a broader interest in regional history across the ages during the years I spent on the island of Kyushu in southwest Japan. This led to the publication of Kyushu - Gateway to Japan: a cultural history (2009), the first comprehensive history of this region in English from early times to the present day. Subsequently, I edited an interdisciplinary collection on Hakata: the cultural world of northern Kyushu (2013), a collaborative project exploring the key role this port has played in Japan's relations with continental Asia and its enduring legacy now as the modern-day city of Fukuoka.
In recent years, meanwhile, my ongoing interest in Meiji diplomats has led me to wander more into the fields of international history and international law. Resulting articles include: 'A Victorian Embarrassment: consular jurisdiction and the evils of extraterritoriality' (2017); and 'Opening Legations: Japan's first resident minister and the diplomatic corps in Europe' (2017). Some book chapters in edited volumes have also followed, such as: 'Shaping a New Profession: Japanese encounters with international law, c. 1600-1900' (2021); and 'Meiji Diplomacy and the Pursuit of Sovereignty' (forthcoming).
Supervision
I am interested in supervising research students in the areas of East Asian cultural and international history, particularly in the context of East-West relations and modern Japan. I would particularly welcome enquiries on exploring themes in these areas such as travel, diplomacy, cultural exchange and international law.