| NOTA |
(★)(1.In 1889 the world was witnessing the birth of what was to become ´Japan as Number One.´ Upheaval in the class system was sparking riots, and the government was in the throes of reorganization. The influx of foreign goods and currency was causing havoc in the economy. Such was the situation that greeted Hugh Fraser and his wife Mary when they arrived in Tokyo to head the British legation. This is Mary Fraser´s account of their life in Japan during this turbulent time. Rejecting the glib stereotypes and misinformation that riddled contemporary literature on Japan, Mrs. Fraser investigated for herself the realities of life in and around the city, recording her observations in lengthy letters to her family in Rome. These letters formed the basis for a two-volume work that was originally published in 1899 and is here abridged and reprinted for the modern reader. Beginning with her arrival at Nagasaki, the author paints a colorful picture of life in Japan. She records in detail the historic events of the time and reports on life at the imperial court. Accorded special privileges, she came to know many leading members of the nobility, great statesmen, and artists. In numerous sketches she reveals hidden facets of their personalities. Masterfully evoked are the atmosphere of life in the capital and summers spent at fashionable resorts, some reachable only by jinrikisha at that time. This vivid account of life in Meiji-era Japan is fittingly edited and annotated by the present British ambassador to Japan. His informative introduction sets the historical scene and provides a touching biography of the Victorian author. Eight magnificent woodblock prints, in color, depict both important events and everyday scenes of Tokyo at the turn of the century. An important and valuable addition to the literature on Japan, this rediscovered memoir offers a fresh perspective on life in Tokyo in the 1890s. 2.Mary Crawford Fraser, born in 1851, was raised in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Rome, where she came into contact with many noted authors, artists, and statesmen. After attending an exclusive boarding school and traveling around Europe, she married Hugh Fraser, a career diplomat. Assignments in Peking, Vienna, Rome, Santiago, and Tokyo provided her with the material for several published volumes of reminiscences. 3.Hugh Cortazzi, the present British Ambassador to Japan, began his diplomatic career in 1950 in Singapore and later filled posts in Bonn, Washington, and several times, Tokyo, where he has resided for nearly twelve years. He is fluent in Japanese and has written extensively on Japan, most notably on its history of contact with the West and on Japanese art.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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