This is an erudite and enjoyable book about the Japanese who encountered
'the barbarian', i.e. the westerner in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
Americans and Europeans were so termed because they spoke
incomprehensible languages and were beyond the pale of the
Confucian culture of east Asia.  Professor Beasley, a leading authority
on modern Japanese history, introduces his study of the experience of
the intellectual Japanese overseas with two preliminary chapters:
the first on the missions to ancient China, and the second on Dutch studies
between 1639 and 1853, when the government closed the country to the
non-Confucian world.

     Thus the book is placed in a context of the pre-modern legacy of the
modern Japanese, before it investigates their reactions to the world of
Pax Britannica. All known delegations and students to the west
between 1860 and 1873 are discussed with their various objectives
and fortunes. The 'national wealth and strength' policy of the Meiji era
(1868-1912) was propagated by those who had been to Europe and America
before assuming significant roles in government and society. Their
responses to the colonization of Asian ports are not neglected.

     The culmination was the Iwakura Embassy of 1871-73, when most senior
members of the newly established government made a round-the-world tour
and left Tokyo for nearly two years (the party comprised 48 officials with
more than 50 feudal lords and students). The aims were threefold:
first to secure international recognition of the Meiji regime,
secondly to hold preliminary negotiations with the western powers
for the revision of the 'unequal treaties' of 1858, and
thirdly to observe and assess the state of western civilization with
an eye to distinguishing among the powers, who were competing to
furnish hospitality. The Japanese endeavoured to absorb and appropriate
the most advanced technology and institutions from, in each case,
what was perceived as the most developed country. Western systems
were selected from several countries, not transplanted from a dominant
power: e.g. railways, the navy and postal service from Britain;
the army, medicine and government from Germany;
law and art from France; pedagogy from the United States.

     Probably the archetypal Japanese responses to the outer world are
adroitly described. Preserving their honour and reserve, the higher officials
strove to remain unmoved and deferred decisions until forced to accept
disadvantageous measures. The subordinate and younger delegates,
on the other hand, displayed indefatigable curiosity and open minds:
among them Fukuzawa Yukichi, who tried everything that could promote
his nation's 'entry to the gate of civilization and enlightenment'.

     The author draws upon ample sources, both English and Japanese,
published and unpublished. Literature on the Japanese perception of
western civilization has recently burgeoned and its study flourishes.
The only point I would query is about the author's assessment of
Kume Kunitake, secretary to ambassador plenipotentiary Iwakura (1871-73).
Kume compiled the five-volume record of their world tour, published in
1878. He was more imaginative and cultured than is suggested here.
His remarks, for instance, after the visit to the British Museum and again to
the Bibliotheque nationale (Paris), contrast with the prevailing misunderstanding
among those frivolous Japanese who thought civilization and progress
were in essence 'casting aside the old and devising the new'. Kume,
afterwards the first professor of Japanese History at the Imperial University,
denounced this flightiness, and stressed the importance of learning from the
past and loving the old. The account here (pp.166, 175) is somewhat confusing.

     Free from Euro-centric, and even more from Anglo-centric views of the
nineteenth century, Professor Beasley presents a well-balanced account of
Japan's vision of the west and her reaction during the most crucial decades
of her history. The book is enthralling.

 University of Tokyo                                                       Kazuhiko  KONDO