Ernest Mason Satow
Encyclopedia
Sir Ernest Mason Satow PC, GCMG, (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), known in Japan as "" (Ānesuto Satō), known in China as (traditional Chinese) "薩道義" or (simplified Chinese) "萨道义", was a British
scholar, diplomat
and Japanologist.
Satow was born to an ethnically German father (Hans David Christoph Satow, born in Wismar
, then under Swedish
rule, naturalised British in 1846) and an English mother (Margaret, née
Mason) in Clapton
, North London. He was educated at Mill Hill School
and University College London
(UCL).
Satow was an exceptional linguist, an energetic traveller, a writer of travel guidebooks, a dictionary compiler, a mountaineer, a keen botanist (chiefly with F.V. Dickins) and a major collector of Japanese books and manuscripts on all kinds of subjects before the Japanese themselves began to do so. He also loved classical music and the works of Dante
on which his brother-in-law Henry Fanshawe Tozer
was an authority. Satow kept a diary for most of his adult life which amounts to 47 mostly handwritten volumes.
As a celebrity, albeit not a major one, he was the subject of a cartoon portrait by Spy in the British Vanity Fair magazine, April 23, 1903.
and Anglo-Japanese relations
, particularly in Bakumatsu (1853–1867) and Meiji Era (1868–1912) Japan
, and in China
after the Boxer Rebellion
, 1900-06. He also served in Siam, Uruguay
and Morocco
, and represented Britain at the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907. In his retirement he wrote A Guide to Diplomatic Practice, now known as 'Satow's Guide to Diplomatic Practice' - this manual is widely used today, and has been updated several times by distinguished diplomats, notably Lord Gore-Booth
. The sixth edition edited by Sir Ivor Roberts
was published by Oxford University Press in 2009, and is over 700 pages long.
Ernest Satow is probably best known as the author of the book A Diplomat in Japan (based mainly on his diaries) which describes the years 1862-1869 when Japan was changing from rule by the Tokugawa shogunate
to the restoration
of Imperial rule. He was recruited by the Foreign Office straight out of university in London. Within a week of his arrival by way of China as a young student interpreter in the British Japan Consular Service
, at age 19, the Namamugi Incident
(Namamugi Jiken), in which a British merchant was killed on the Tōkaidō
, took place on September 14, 1862. Satow was on board one of the British ships which sailed to Kagoshima in August 1863 to obtain the compensation demanded from the Satsuma clan's daimyo
, Shimazu Hisamitsu
, for the slaying of Charles Lennox Richardson
. They were fired on by the Satsuma shore batteries and retaliated, an action that became known in Britain as the Bombardment of Kagoshima
.
In 1864, Satow was with the allied force (Britain, France
, the Netherlands
and the United States
) which attacked Shimonoseki to enforce the right of passage of foreign ships through the narrow Kanmon Strait between Honshū and Kyūshū. Satow met Ito Hirobumi
and Inoue Kaoru
of Chōshū for the first time just before the bombardment of Shimonoseki
. He also had links with many other Japanese leaders, including Saigō Takamori
of Satsuma (who became a friend), and toured the hinterland of Japan with A.B. Mitford and the cartoonist and illustrator Charles Wirgman
.
Satow's rise in the consular service was due at first to his competence and zeal as an interpreter at a time when English was virtually unknown in Japan and the Japanese government still communicated with the West in Dutch. His Japanese language skills quickly became indispensable in the British Minister Sir Harry Parkes
's negotiations with the failing Tokugawa shogunate and the powerful Satsuma and Chōshū clans, and the gathering of intelligence. He was promoted to full Interpreter and then Japanese Secretary to the British
legation, and, as early as 1864, he started to write translations and newspaper articles on subjects relating to Japan. In 1869, he went home to England on leave, returning to Japan in 1870.
Satow was one of the founding members at Yokohama
, in 1872, of the Asiatic Society of Japan
whose purpose was to study the Japanese culture, history and language (i.e. Japanology
) in detail. He lectured to the Society on several occasions in the 1870s, and the Transactions of the Asiatic Society contain several of his published papers. The Society is still thriving today.
(1889–93) and Morocco
(1893–95). (Such promotion was extraordinary because the British Consular and Diplomatic services were segregated until the mid-20th century, and Satow did not come from the aristocratic class to which the Diplomatic Service was restricted.)
's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and met her in August at Osborne House
, Isle of Wight). On April 17, 1895 the Treaty of Shimonoseki
(text here) had been signed, and Satow was able to observe at first hand the steady build-up of the Japanese army and navy to avenge the humiliation by Russia, Germany and France in the Triple Intervention
of April 23, 1895. He was also in a position to oversee the transition to the ending of extraterritoriality
in Japan which finally ended in 1899, as agreed by the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
signed in London on July 16, 1894.
On Satow's personal recommendation, Hiram Shaw Wilkinson
, who had been a student interpreter in Japan 2 years after Satow, was appointed first, Judge of the British Court for Japan in 1897 and in 1900 Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Corea
.
Satow was unlucky not to be named the first British Ambassador to Japan, an honour which was bestowed on his successor Sir Claude Maxwell Macdonald
in 1905.
which settled the compensation claims of the Powers after the Boxer Rebellion
, and he signed the protocol for Britain on September 7, 1901. Satow also observed the defeat of Russia
in the Russo-Japanese War
(1904–1905) from his Peking post. He signed the Convention Between Great Britain and China.
and is listed on the Historic list of members of the Privy Council. In 1907 he was Britain's second plenipotentiary at the Second Hague Peace Conference.
In retirement (1906–1929) at Ottery St Mary
in Devon, England, he wrote mainly on subjects connected with diplomacy
and international law. In Britain, he is less well known than in Japan, where he is recognised as perhaps the most important foreign observer in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods. He gave the Rede lecture
at Cambridge University in 1908 on the career of Count Joseph Alexander Hübner
. It was titled An Austrian Diplomat in the Fifties. Satow chose this subject with discretion to avoid censure from the British Foreign Office for discussing his own career.
As the years passed, Satow's understanding and appreciation of the Japanese evolved and deepened. For example, one of his diary entries from the early 1860s asserts that the submissive character of the Japanese will make it easy for foreigners to govern them after the "samurai problem" could be resolved; but in retirement, he wrote: "... looking back now in 1919, it seems perfectly ludicrous that such a notion should have been entertained, even as a joke, for a single moment, by anyone who understood the Japanese spirit."
Satow's extensive diaries and letters (the Satow Papers, PRO 30/33 1-23) are kept at the Public Record Office
at Kew, West London in accordance with his last will and testament. Many of his rare Japanese books are now part of the Oriental collection of Cambridge University Library
.
(Wendish) in origin. It means 'village of the sower'. The 'a' in Satow is thus—strictly speaking—a long 'a' (as in "father").
It is probable that Japanese friends or language teachers encouraged Satow to use kanji characters for his name in the 1860s, as is quite common among foreigners resident in Japan even today. This would have ensured the short 'a' pronunciation, there being no native words with a long 'a' in Japanese. The two obvious combinations were 薩道 and 佐藤, both read 'Satoh' with a short 'a'. Of these the former uses the 薩 (Sa) of Satsuma, and Satow himself may have preferred this one, as the Satsuma han
was allied with Britain after 1865.
Satow was never able, as a diplomat serving in Japan, to marry his Japanese common-law wife, Takeda Kane, by whom he had two sons, Eitaro and Hisayoshi. The Takeda family letters, including many from Satow to and from his family, have been deposited at the Yokohama Archives of History
(formerly the British consulate in Yokohama
) at the request of Satow's granddaughters.
Satow's second son, Takeda Hisayoshi, became a noted botanist and founder of the Japan Alpine Club. He studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
and at Birmingham University. A memorial hall to him is in the Oze marshlands in Hinoemata
, Fukushima prefecture
.
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 200+ works in 300+ publications in 9 languages and 4,000+library holdings.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
scholar, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and Japanologist.
Satow was born to an ethnically German father (Hans David Christoph Satow, born in Wismar
Wismar
Wismar , is a small port and Hanseatic League town in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,about 45 km due east of Lübeck, and 30 km due north of Schwerin. Its natural harbour, located in the Bay of Wismar is well-protected by a promontory. The...
, then under Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
rule, naturalised British in 1846) and an English mother (Margaret, née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Mason) in Clapton
Upper Clapton
Upper Clapton is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bounded by the Hackney districts of Stamford Hill to the west, Lower Clapton and Lea Bridge to the south and the Haringey district of South Tottenham to the north...
, North London. He was educated at Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School, in Mill Hill, London, is a coeducational independent school for boarding and day pupils aged 13–18. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an organisation of public schools in the United Kingdom....
and University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
(UCL).
Satow was an exceptional linguist, an energetic traveller, a writer of travel guidebooks, a dictionary compiler, a mountaineer, a keen botanist (chiefly with F.V. Dickins) and a major collector of Japanese books and manuscripts on all kinds of subjects before the Japanese themselves began to do so. He also loved classical music and the works of Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
on which his brother-in-law Henry Fanshawe Tozer
Henry Fanshawe Tozer
Henry Fanshawe Tozer was an English writer, teacher, and traveler. After graduating from Exeter College, Oxford, in 1850, he was tutor there from 1855 to 1893 and was also curator of the Taylor Institution from 1869 to 1893. His brother-in-law was Ernest Mason Satow...
was an authority. Satow kept a diary for most of his adult life which amounts to 47 mostly handwritten volumes.
As a celebrity, albeit not a major one, he was the subject of a cartoon portrait by Spy in the British Vanity Fair magazine, April 23, 1903.
General
Satow is better known in Japan than in Britain or the other countries in which he served. He was a key figure in East AsiaEast Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Anglo-Japanese relations
Anglo-Japanese relations
The history of the relationship between Britain and Japan began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams on the shores of Kyūshū at Usuki in Ōita Prefecture...
, particularly in Bakumatsu (1853–1867) and Meiji Era (1868–1912) Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
after the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
, 1900-06. He also served in Siam, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and represented Britain at the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907. In his retirement he wrote A Guide to Diplomatic Practice, now known as 'Satow's Guide to Diplomatic Practice' - this manual is widely used today, and has been updated several times by distinguished diplomats, notably Lord Gore-Booth
Paul Gore-Booth, Baron Gore-Booth
Paul Henry Gore-Booth, Baron Gore-Booth, GCMG, KCVO, was a British diplomat. He served in HM Diplomatic Service and in retirement held the following appointments: Director: Grindlays Bank, 1969–79; United Kingdom Provident Institution, 1969–79; Registrar, Order of St Michael and St George,...
. The sixth edition edited by Sir Ivor Roberts
Ivor Roberts (ambassador)
Sir Ivor Anthony Roberts, KCMG, MA Oxford, FCIL is President of Trinity College, Oxford and was formerly British Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Ireland, and Italy...
was published by Oxford University Press in 2009, and is over 700 pages long.
Japan (1862-1883)
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
to the restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
of Imperial rule. He was recruited by the Foreign Office straight out of university in London. Within a week of his arrival by way of China as a young student interpreter in the British Japan Consular Service
British Japan Consular Service
Britain had a functioning consular service in Japan from 1859 after the signing of the 1858 Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce between James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and the Tokugawa Shogunate until 1941 when war was declared by Britain on Japan as the ally of the United States after the...
, at age 19, the Namamugi Incident
Namamugi Incident
The was a samurai assault on foreign nationals in Japan on September 14, 1862, which resulted in the August 1863 bombardment of Kagoshima, during the Late Tokugawa shogunate...
(Namamugi Jiken), in which a British merchant was killed on the Tōkaidō
Tokaido (road)
The ' was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name....
, took place on September 14, 1862. Satow was on board one of the British ships which sailed to Kagoshima in August 1863 to obtain the compensation demanded from the Satsuma clan's daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
, Shimazu Hisamitsu
Shimazu Hisamitsu
Prince , also known as ', was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. The younger brother of Shimazu Nariakira, Hisamitsu served as regent for his underage son Tadayoshi , who became the 12th and last lord. Hisamitsu was instrumental in the efforts of the southern Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa clans...
, for the slaying of Charles Lennox Richardson
Charles Lennox Richardson
Charles Lennox Richardson was an English merchant based in Shanghai who was killed in Japan during the Namamugi Incident. His name is properly spelled as “Charles Lenox Richardson” according to the census and family documents.-Merchant:Richardson was born in London in 1834. He relocated to...
. They were fired on by the Satsuma shore batteries and retaliated, an action that became known in Britain as the Bombardment of Kagoshima
Bombardment of Kagoshima
The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the , took place on 15–17 August 1863 during the Late Tokugawa shogunate. The British Royal Navy was fired on from the coastal batteries near town of Kagoshima and in retaliation bombarded the town...
.
In 1864, Satow was with the allied force (Britain, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) which attacked Shimonoseki to enforce the right of passage of foreign ships through the narrow Kanmon Strait between Honshū and Kyūshū. Satow met Ito Hirobumi
Ito Hirobumi
Prince was a samurai of Chōshū domain, Japanese statesman, four time Prime Minister of Japan , genrō and Resident-General of Korea. Itō was assassinated by An Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist who was against the annexation of Korea by the Japanese Empire...
and Inoue Kaoru
Inoue Kaoru
Count , GCMG was a member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesman in Japan during that period, he had a tremendous influence on the selection of the nation's leaders and formation of its policies.-Early years:...
of Chōshū for the first time just before the bombardment of Shimonoseki
Bombardment of Shimonoseki
The Battles for Shimonoseki refers to a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, fought to control Shimonoseki Straits by joint naval forces from the Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of Chōshū, which took place off and on the...
. He also had links with many other Japanese leaders, including Saigō Takamori
Saigo Takamori
was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history, living during the late Edo Period and early Meiji Era. He has been dubbed the last true samurai.-Early life:...
of Satsuma (who became a friend), and toured the hinterland of Japan with A.B. Mitford and the cartoonist and illustrator Charles Wirgman
Charles Wirgman
Charles Wirgman was an English artist and cartoonist, the creator of the Japan Punch and illustrator in China and Meiji period Japan for the Illustrated London News....
.
Harry Smith Parkes
Sir Harry Smith Parkes was a 19th century British diplomat who worked mainly in China and Japan...
's negotiations with the failing Tokugawa shogunate and the powerful Satsuma and Chōshū clans, and the gathering of intelligence. He was promoted to full Interpreter and then Japanese Secretary to the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
legation, and, as early as 1864, he started to write translations and newspaper articles on subjects relating to Japan. In 1869, he went home to England on leave, returning to Japan in 1870.
Satow was one of the founding members at Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, in 1872, of the Asiatic Society of Japan
Asiatic Society of Japan
The is a society of Japanese studies . Founded in 1872, the ASJ is Japan's oldest learned society.-Overview:The Asiatic Society of Japan was founded in 1872, five years after the Meiji restoration, at Yokohama by British and American residents - in particular missionaries, diplomats, businessmen...
whose purpose was to study the Japanese culture, history and language (i.e. Japanology
Japanology
Japanese Studies is a term generally used in Europe to describe the historical and cultural study of Japan; in North America, the academic field is usually referred to as Japanese studies, which includes contemporary social sciences as well as classical humanistic fields.European Japanology is the...
) in detail. He lectured to the Society on several occasions in the 1870s, and the Transactions of the Asiatic Society contain several of his published papers. The Society is still thriving today.
Siam, Uruguay, Morocco (1884-1895)
Satow served in Siam (1884–1887), during which time he was accorded the rare honour of promotion from the Consular to the Diplomatic service, UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
(1889–93) and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
(1893–95). (Such promotion was extraordinary because the British Consular and Diplomatic services were segregated until the mid-20th century, and Satow did not come from the aristocratic class to which the Diplomatic Service was restricted.)
Japan (1895-1900)
Satow returned to Japan as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on July 28, 1895. He stayed in Tokyo for five years (though he was on leave in London for Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and met her in August at Osborne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
, Isle of Wight). On April 17, 1895 the Treaty of Shimonoseki
Treaty of Shimonoseki
The Treaty of Shimonoseki , known as the Treaty of Maguan in China, was signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War. The peace conference took place from March 20 to April 17, 1895...
(text here) had been signed, and Satow was able to observe at first hand the steady build-up of the Japanese army and navy to avenge the humiliation by Russia, Germany and France in the Triple Intervention
Triple Intervention
The was a diplomatic intervention by Russia, Germany, and France on 23 April 1895 over the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed between Japan and Qing dynasty China that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.-Treaty of Shimonoseki:...
of April 23, 1895. He was also in a position to oversee the transition to the ending of extraterritoriality
Extraterritoriality
Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations...
in Japan which finally ended in 1899, as agreed by the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
The signed by Britain and Japan, on July 16, 1894, was a breakthrough agreement; it heralded the end of the unequal treaties and the system of extraterritoriality in Japan. The treaty came into force on July 17, 1899....
signed in London on July 16, 1894.
On Satow's personal recommendation, Hiram Shaw Wilkinson
Hiram Shaw Wilkinson
Sir Hiram Shaw Wilkinson, JP, DL was a leading British judge and diplomat, serving in China and Japan-Early life:Hiram Shaw Wilkinson was born in 1840, the son of John Wilkinson Esq., of Belfast and Annabella Shaw, daughter of William Shaw, Esq., of Holden's Valley, County Down...
, who had been a student interpreter in Japan 2 years after Satow, was appointed first, Judge of the British Court for Japan in 1897 and in 1900 Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Corea
British Supreme Court for China and Japan
The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1865 to try cases against British subjects in China and Japan, and from 1883, Korea, under the principles of Extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from consular courts in...
.
Satow was unlucky not to be named the first British Ambassador to Japan, an honour which was bestowed on his successor Sir Claude Maxwell Macdonald
Claude Maxwell MacDonald
Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald GCMG GCVO KCB PC was a British diplomat, best known for his service in China and Japan.-Biography:...
in 1905.
China (1900–06)
Satow served as the British High Commissioner (September 1900 - January 1902) and then Minister in Peking from 1900-1906. He was active as plenipotentiary in the negotiations to conclude the Boxer ProtocolBoxer Protocol
The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901 between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance that had provided military forces plus Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands after China's defeat in the intervention to put down the Boxer Rebellion at the hands of the...
which settled the compensation claims of the Powers after the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
, and he signed the protocol for Britain on September 7, 1901. Satow also observed the defeat of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
(1904–1905) from his Peking post. He signed the Convention Between Great Britain and China.
Retirement (1906–29)
In 1906 Satow was made a Privy CouncillorPrivy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
and is listed on the Historic list of members of the Privy Council. In 1907 he was Britain's second plenipotentiary at the Second Hague Peace Conference.
In retirement (1906–1929) at Ottery St Mary
Ottery St Mary
Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery" , is a town in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about ten miles east of Exeter on the B3174. It is part of a large civil parish of the same name, which also covers the villages of West Hill, Metcombe, Fairmile, Alfington, Tipton St...
in Devon, England, he wrote mainly on subjects connected with diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
and international law. In Britain, he is less well known than in Japan, where he is recognised as perhaps the most important foreign observer in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods. He gave the Rede lecture
Rede Lecture
The Sir Robert Rede's Lecturer is an annual appointment to give a public lecture, the Sir Robert Rede's Lecture at the University of Cambridge. It is named for Sir Robert Rede, who was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the sixteenth century.-Initial series:The initial series of lectures ranges...
at Cambridge University in 1908 on the career of Count Joseph Alexander Hübner
Count Joseph Alexander Hübner
Joseph Alexander, count Hübner , was an Austrian diplomat, born in Vienna. His real name was Josef Hafenbredl, which he changed to Hübner.-Career:...
. It was titled An Austrian Diplomat in the Fifties. Satow chose this subject with discretion to avoid censure from the British Foreign Office for discussing his own career.
As the years passed, Satow's understanding and appreciation of the Japanese evolved and deepened. For example, one of his diary entries from the early 1860s asserts that the submissive character of the Japanese will make it easy for foreigners to govern them after the "samurai problem" could be resolved; but in retirement, he wrote: "... looking back now in 1919, it seems perfectly ludicrous that such a notion should have been entertained, even as a joke, for a single moment, by anyone who understood the Japanese spirit."
Satow's extensive diaries and letters (the Satow Papers, PRO 30/33 1-23) are kept at the Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
at Kew, West London in accordance with his last will and testament. Many of his rare Japanese books are now part of the Oriental collection of Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library
The Cambridge University Library is the centrally-administered library of Cambridge University in England. It comprises five separate libraries:* the University Library main building * the Medical Library...
.
Origin and pronunciation of 'Satow'
In his Family Chronicle (see below), Satow stated that the family name was SorbianSorbian languages
The Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code...
(Wendish) in origin. It means 'village of the sower'. The 'a' in Satow is thus—strictly speaking—a long 'a' (as in "father").
It is probable that Japanese friends or language teachers encouraged Satow to use kanji characters for his name in the 1860s, as is quite common among foreigners resident in Japan even today. This would have ensured the short 'a' pronunciation, there being no native words with a long 'a' in Japanese. The two obvious combinations were 薩道 and 佐藤, both read 'Satoh' with a short 'a'. Of these the former uses the 薩 (Sa) of Satsuma, and Satow himself may have preferred this one, as the Satsuma han
Satsuma han
The Satsuma domain was one of the most powerful feudal domains in Tokugawa Japan, and played a major role in the Meiji Restoration and in the government of the Meiji period which followed...
was allied with Britain after 1865.
Family
Yokohama Archives of History
The in Naka ward, central Yokohama near Yamashita Park is a repository for many precious archive materials on Japan and the foreign connection with Japan since the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853...
(formerly the British consulate in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
) at the request of Satow's granddaughters.
Satow's second son, Takeda Hisayoshi, became a noted botanist and founder of the Japan Alpine Club. He studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
and at Birmingham University. A memorial hall to him is in the Oze marshlands in Hinoemata
Hinoemata, Fukushima
is a village located in Minamiaizu District, Fukushima, Japan. It is locally famous for its soba and known nationally for its kabuki performances and as a gateway to the Oze marshlands....
, Fukushima prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Fukushima.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Fukushima prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....
.
Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Ernest Mason Satow, OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 200+ works in 300+ publications in 9 languages and 4,000+library holdings.
- A Guide to Diplomatic Practice by Sir E. Satow, (Longmans, Green & Co. London & New York, 1917). A standard reference work used in many embassies across the world, and described by Sir Harold NicolsonHarold NicolsonSir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG was an English diplomat, author, diarist and politician. He was the husband of writer Vita Sackville-West, their unusual relationship being described in their son's book, Portrait of a Marriage.-Early life:Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the younger son of...
in his book Diplomacy as "The standard work on diplomatic practice," and "admirable." Sixth edition, edited by Sir Ivor Roberts (2009, ISBN 978-0-19-9559275).
- A Diplomat in Japan by Sir E. Satow, first published by Seeley, Service & Co., London, 1921, reprinted in paperback by Tuttle, 2002. (Page numbers are slightly different in the two editions.) ISBN 4-925080-28-8
- The Voyage of John Saris, ed. by Sir E. M. Satow (Hakluyt Society, 1900) mentioned on the William AdamsWilliam Adams (sailor)William Adams , also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama and Miura Anjin , was an English navigator who travelled to Japan and is believed to be the first Englishman ever to reach that country...
page.
- The Family Chronicle of the English Satows, by Ernest Satow, privately printed, Oxford 1925.
- Collected Works of Ernest Mason Satow Part One : Major Works 1998 (includes two works not published by Satow)
- Collected Works Of Ernest Mason Satow Part Two: Collected Papers 2001
- 'British Policy', a series of three untitled articles written by Satow (anonymously) in the Japan Times (ed. Charles Rickerby), dated March 16, May 4(? date uncertain) and May 19, 1866 which apparently influenced many Japanese once it was translated and widely distributed under the title 'Eikoku sakuron' (British policy), and probably helped to hasten the Meiji RestorationMeiji RestorationThe , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
of 1868. Satow pointed out that the British and other treaties with foreign countries had been made by the Shogun on behalf of Japan, but that the Emperor's existence had not even been mentioned, thus calling into question their validity. Satow accused the Shogun of fraud, and demanded to know who was the 'real head' of Japan and further a revision of the treaties to reflect the political reality. He later admitted in A Diplomat in Japan (p. 155 of the Tuttle reprint edition, p. 159 of the first edition) that writing the articles had been 'altogether contrary to the rules of the service' (i.e. it is inappropriate for a diplomat or consular agent to interfere in the politics of a country in which he/she is serving). [The first and third articles are reproduced on pp. 566–75 of Grace Fox, Britain and Japan 1858-1883, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1969, but the second one has only been located in the Japanese translation. A retranslation from the Japanese back into English has been attempted in I. Ruxton, Bulletin of the Kyūshū Institute of Technology (Humanities, Social Sciences), No. 45, March 1997, pp. 33–41]
Books and articles based on the Satow Papers
- The Diaries and Letters of Sir Ernest Mason Satow (1843-1929), a Scholar-Diplomat in East Asia, edited by Ian C. Ruxton, Edwin Mellen PressEdwin Mellen PressThe Edwin Mellen Press, based in Lewiston, New York is a niche publisher of scholarly material and advanced research in the humanities and social sciences. They publish a variety of tomes including monographs, bibliographies, concordances, dictionaries, conference proceedings, dissertations, and...
, 1998 ISBN 0-7734-8248-2. (Translated into Japanese ISBN 4-8419-0316-X )
- The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Tokyo (1895-1900): A Diplomat Returns to Japan edited by Ian Ruxton, Edition Synapse, 2003 ISBN 4-901481-06-1 (hardcover); Lulu Press Inc., 2010 ISBN 978-0-557-35372-9 (paperback)
- The Correspondence of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Japan (1895-1900), Volume One, from the Satow Papers held at The National Archives, Kew, London. published in full for researchers with notes by Ian Ruxton, Kyūshū Institute of TechnologyKyushu Institute of Technologyis one of the 87 national universities in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, it is dedicated to education and research in the fields of science and technology...
, Lulu Press Inc., July 2005. ISBN 1-4116-3857-3
- The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Envoy in Peking (1900-06) edited by Ian Ruxton in two volumes, Lulu Press Inc., April 2006 ISBN 978-1-4116-8804-9 (Volume One); ISBN 978-1-4116-8805-6 (Volume Two)
- The Semi-Official Letters of British Envoy Sir Ernest Satow from Japan and China (1895-1906) edited by Ian Ruxton, Lulu Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4303-1502-5
- Sir Ernest Satow's Private Letters to W.G. Aston and F.V. Dickins edited by Ian Ruxton with an introduction by Peter KornickiPeter KornickiPeter Francis Kornicki FBA, is an English Japanologist. He is Professor of East Asian Studies at Cambridge University. He was previously Professor of Japanese History and Bibliography....
, Lulu Press Inc, February 2008 ISBN 978-1-4357-1000-9 (preview)
- A Diplomat in Japan Part II: The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, 1870-1883, edited by Ian Ruxton with an introduction by Sir Hugh CortazziHugh CortazziSir Arthur Henry Hugh Cortazzi, GCMG is a British diplomat. Best known as Hugh Cortazzi, he is also a distinguished international businessman, academic, author and prominent Japanologist...
, Lulu Press Inc. (lulu.com), 2009 ISBN 978-0-557-10457-4
- Korea and Manchuria between Russia and Japan 1895-1904 : the observations of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan (1895-1900) and China (1900-1906), Selected and edited with a historical introduction, by George Alexander Lensen. -- Sophia University in cooperation with Diplomatic Press, 1966 [No ISBN]
- A Diplomat in Siam by Ernest Satow C.M.G., Introduced and edited by Nigel Brailey (Orchid Press, Bangkok, reprinted 2002) ISBN 974-8304-73-6
- The Satow Siam Papers: The Private Diaries and Correspondence of Ernest Satow, edited by Nigel Brailey (Volume 1, 1884–85), Bangkok: The Historical Society, 1997
- The Rt. Hon. Sir Ernest Mason Satow G.C.M.G.: A Memoir, by Bernard M. Allen (1933)
Other
- Early Japanese books in Cambridge University Library : a catalogue of the Aston, Satow, and von Siebold collections, Nozomu Hayashi & Peter KornickiPeter KornickiPeter Francis Kornicki FBA, is an English Japanologist. He is Professor of East Asian Studies at Cambridge University. He was previously Professor of Japanese History and Bibliography....
-- Cambridge University Press, 1991. -- (University of Cambridge Oriental publications ; 40) ISBN 0-521-36496-5 - Diplomacy and Statecraft, Volume 13, Number 2 includes a special section on Satow by various contributors (June, 2002)
- Entry on Satow in the new Dictionary of National BiographyDictionary of National BiographyThe Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
by Dr. Nigel Brailey of Bristol University
See also
- List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Japan
- Anglo-Japanese relationsAnglo-Japanese relationsThe history of the relationship between Britain and Japan began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams on the shores of Kyūshū at Usuki in Ōita Prefecture...
- Anglo-Chinese relationsAnglo-Chinese relationsBritish–Chinese relations , also known as Sino-British relations and Anglo-Chinese relations, refers to the interstate relations between China and the United Kingdom. Although on opposing sides of the Cold War, both countries were allies during World War II, and are members of the UN...
- Asiatic Society of JapanAsiatic Society of JapanThe is a society of Japanese studies . Founded in 1872, the ASJ is Japan's oldest learned society.-Overview:The Asiatic Society of Japan was founded in 1872, five years after the Meiji restoration, at Yokohama by British and American residents - in particular missionaries, diplomats, businessmen...
- Yokohama Archives of HistoryYokohama Archives of HistoryThe in Naka ward, central Yokohama near Yamashita Park is a repository for many precious archive materials on Japan and the foreign connection with Japan since the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853...
has copies of Satow's diaries and his private letters to his Japanese family.
- Empress Dowager CixiEmpress Dowager CixiEmpress Dowager Cixi1 , of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908....
- Chōshū FiveChoshu FiveThe were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who studied in England from 1863 at University College London under the guidance of Professor Alexander William Williamson. It was still illegal to leave Japan when they left, as sakoku was still practically in force until the Meiji...
People who knew Satow
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- William Willis
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