Francis Brinkley
Encyclopedia
Francis Brinkley was an Irish newspaper owner, editor and scholar who resided in Meiji period
Japan
for over 40 years, where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture, art and architecture, and an English-Japanese Dictionary. He was also known as Frank Brinkley or as Captain Francis Brinkley, and was the great uncle of Cyril Connolly
.
, Ireland
, the thirteenth child of Matthew Brinkley (1797–1855) J.P., of Parsonstown House, Lobinstown, Co. Meath
, by his wife Harriet (née Graves). His paternal grandfather, John Brinkley
, was the Bishop of Cloyne and the first Royal Astronomer of Ireland, while his maternal grandfather, Richard Graves, was also a Senior Fellow of Trinity College
and the Dean of Ardagh. One of Brinkley's sisters, Jane (Brinkley) Vernon, was the grandmother of Cyril Connolly
, and another, Anna, Dowager Countess of Kingston, was the last person to live at Mitchelstown Castle
. Through his mother's family Brinkley was related to Richard Francis Burton
, a distinguished linguist who shared Brinkley's passion for foreign culture.
Brinkley went to Royal School Dungannon
before entering Trinity College
, where he received the highest records in mathematics and classics. After graduating he chose upon a military career and was subsequently accepted at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, becoming an artillery
officer. In this capacity his cousin, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell
the 6th Governor of Hong Kong
(1866–1872), invited him out to the east to serve as his A.D.C. and Adjutant
.
In 1866, on his way to Hong Kong
, Brinkley visited Nagasaki
and witnessed a duel
between two samurai
warriors. Once the victor had slain his opponent he immediately covered him in his haori, and 'knelt down with hands clasped in prayer'. It is said that Brinkley was so impressed by the conduct of the Japanese warrior that this enticed him to live in Japan
permanently.
, he was assistant military attache
to the Japanese Embassy. He resigned his commission in 1871 to take up the post of foreign advisor
to the new Meiji government, and taught artillery techniques to the new Imperial Japanese Navy
at the Naval Gunnery School. He mastered the Japanese language
soon after his arrival, and both spoke and wrote it well.
In 1878 he was invited to teach mathematics at the Imperial College of Engineering
, which later became part of Tokyo Imperial University, remaining in this post for two and a half years.
In the same year he married Tanaka Yasuko, a daughter of a samurai from the Mito clan
. Technically, the marriage was illegal under Japanese law, but Brinkley managed to legalise it by appealing to the British judiciary, with the help of some influential friends. They were the parents of two daughters and a son, Jack Ronald Brinkley (1887–1964), who also contributed greatly to Japanese culture and education.
In 1881 until his death he owned and edited the Japan Mail newspaper (later merged with the Japan Times), receiving financial support from the Japanese government and consequently maintaining a pro-Japanese stance. The newspaper was perhaps the most influential and widely read English language
newspaper in the far East.
After the First Sino-Japanese War
Brinkley became the Tokyo
-based correspondent for The Times
of London
, and gained fame for his dispatches during the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904-1905. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure
by Emperor Meiji
for his contributions to better Anglo-Japanese relations
. He was also an adviser to the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Japan's largest shipping line. F.A. MacKenzie, a prominent English journalist, wrote:
Brinkley's last dispatch to The Times was written from his deathbed in 1912, reporting on a seppuku
: Emperor Meiji
had recently died and to show fealty to the deceased emperor, General Nogi Maresuke together with his wife committed hara-kiri.
and pottery
, cricket
, tennis
, horse riding and hunting. Part of his significant collection of art and pottery was donated to various museums around the world, but the most part was reduced to rubble and ash after the Great Tokyo earthquake and World War II
.
He wrote books for English beginners interested in the Japanese language
, and his grammar books and English-Japanese Dictionary (compiled with Fumio Nanjo and Yukichika Iwasaki) were regarded as the definitive books on the subject for those studying English in the latter half of the Meiji period.
He wrote much on Japanese history and Japanese art
. His book 'A History of the Japanese People', which was published after his death by The Times in 1915, covered Japanese history, fine arts and literature from the origins of the Japanese race up until the latter half of the Meiji period.
, Tokugawa Iesato
, the Minister of the Navy Saito Makoto
, and the Foreign Minister Uchida Kosai. He is buried in the foreign section of the Aoyama Reien cemetery in central Tokyo.
After his death Ernest Satow wrote of Brinkley to Frederick Victor Dickins
on 21 November 1912: "I have not seen any fuller memoir of Brinkley than what appeared in “The Times”. As you perhaps know I did not trust him. Who wrote “The Times” notice I cannot imagine. As you say, it was the work of an ignorant person."
On his death bed Frank Brinkley had told his son, Jack, of an episode that occurred during the [Russo-Japanese War. After the Japanese had defeated the Russians at the Battle of Mukden
, the Chief of the General Staff, Kodama Gentarō, rushed home in secret to urge the Japanese Government to conclude a treaty with Russia. At the time it was a hugely consequential secret and yet he confided this national secret to Brinkley, the foreign correspendent of The Times
, demonstrating the utmost confidence in which the Chief of the General Staff held Brinkley.
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
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...
for over 40 years, where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture, art and architecture, and an English-Japanese Dictionary. He was also known as Frank Brinkley or as Captain Francis Brinkley, and was the great uncle of Cyril Connolly
Cyril Connolly
Cyril Vernon Connolly was an English intellectual, literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon and wrote Enemies of Promise , which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of...
.
Early life
In 1841, Frank Brinkley was born in LeinsterLeinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the thirteenth child of Matthew Brinkley (1797–1855) J.P., of Parsonstown House, Lobinstown, Co. Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, by his wife Harriet (née Graves). His paternal grandfather, John Brinkley
John Brinkley (astronomer)
The Rt. Rev. John Mortimer Brinkley D.D. was the first Royal Astronomer of Ireland and later Bishop of Cloyne.-Early years:...
, was the Bishop of Cloyne and the first Royal Astronomer of Ireland, while his maternal grandfather, Richard Graves, was also a Senior Fellow of Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
and the Dean of Ardagh. One of Brinkley's sisters, Jane (Brinkley) Vernon, was the grandmother of Cyril Connolly
Cyril Connolly
Cyril Vernon Connolly was an English intellectual, literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon and wrote Enemies of Promise , which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of...
, and another, Anna, Dowager Countess of Kingston, was the last person to live at Mitchelstown Castle
Mitchelstown Castle
Mitchelstown Castle, the former home of the Irish Earls of Kingston, was located in the north County Cork town of Mitchelstown in Ireland.-15th to 18th century:...
. Through his mother's family Brinkley was related to Richard Francis Burton
Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...
, a distinguished linguist who shared Brinkley's passion for foreign culture.
Brinkley went to Royal School Dungannon
Royal School Dungannon
The Royal School is a school located in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was one of a number of 'free schools' created by James I in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation of Ulster. Originally setup in Mountjoy near Lough Neagh...
before entering Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, where he received the highest records in mathematics and classics. After graduating he chose upon a military career and was subsequently accepted at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, becoming an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
officer. In this capacity his cousin, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell
Richard Graves MacDonnell
Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell KCMG CB was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, judge and colonial governor...
the 6th Governor of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(1866–1872), invited him out to the east to serve as his A.D.C. and Adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
.
In 1866, on his way to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Brinkley visited Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
and witnessed a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
between two samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
warriors. Once the victor had slain his opponent he immediately covered him in his haori, and 'knelt down with hands clasped in prayer'. It is said that Brinkley was so impressed by the conduct of the Japanese warrior that this enticed him to live in 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...
permanently.
Life in Japan
In 1867 Captain Brinkley returned to Japan, never again to return home. Attached to the British-Japanese Legation, and still an officer in the Royal ArtilleryRoyal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
, he was assistant military attache
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
to the Japanese Embassy. He resigned his commission in 1871 to take up the post of foreign advisor
O-yatoi gaikokujin
The Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin , were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji era. The term is sometimes...
to the new Meiji government, and taught artillery techniques to the new Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
at the Naval Gunnery School. He mastered the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
soon after his arrival, and both spoke and wrote it well.
In 1878 he was invited to teach mathematics at the Imperial College of Engineering
Imperial College of Engineering
The Imperial College of Engineering was founded as a university at Tokyo in 1873, though its predecessor the existed from 1871. The name "Kobu Daigakko" dates from 1877. In modern-day parlance it would have been called an institute of technology....
, which later became part of Tokyo Imperial University, remaining in this post for two and a half years.
In the same year he married Tanaka Yasuko, a daughter of a samurai from the Mito clan
Mito Domain
was a prominent feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period. Its capital was the city of Mito, and it covered much of present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. Beginning with the appointment of Tokugawa Yorifusa by his father, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1608, the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan...
. Technically, the marriage was illegal under Japanese law, but Brinkley managed to legalise it by appealing to the British judiciary, with the help of some influential friends. They were the parents of two daughters and a son, Jack Ronald Brinkley (1887–1964), who also contributed greatly to Japanese culture and education.
In 1881 until his death he owned and edited the Japan Mail newspaper (later merged with the Japan Times), receiving financial support from the Japanese government and consequently maintaining a pro-Japanese stance. The newspaper was perhaps the most influential and widely read English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
newspaper in the far East.
After the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
Brinkley became the Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
-based correspondent for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and gained fame for his dispatches during 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...
of 1904-1905. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese Order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan as the Order of Meiji. It is awarded in eight classes . It is generally awarded for long and/or meritorious service and considered to be the lowest of the Japanese orders of merit...
by Emperor Meiji
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
for his contributions to better 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...
. He was also an adviser to the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Japan's largest shipping line. F.A. MacKenzie, a prominent English journalist, wrote:
Captain Brinkley's great knowledge of Japanese life and language is admitted and admired by all. His independence of judgment is, however, weakened by his close official connection with the Japanese Government and by his personal interest in Japanese industry. His journal is regarded generally as a government mouth-piece, and he has succeeded in making himself a more vigorous advocate of the Japanese claims than even the Japanese themselves. It can safely be forecasted that whenever a dispute arises between Japanese and British interests, Captain Brinkley and his journal will play the part, through thick and thin, of defenders of the Japanese.
Brinkley's last dispatch to The Times was written from his deathbed in 1912, reporting on a seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
: Emperor Meiji
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
had recently died and to show fealty to the deceased emperor, General Nogi Maresuke together with his wife committed hara-kiri.
Private life
Frank Brinkley had many hobbies which included gardening, collecting Japanese artJapanese art
Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
and pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, horse riding and hunting. Part of his significant collection of art and pottery was donated to various museums around the world, but the most part was reduced to rubble and ash after the Great Tokyo earthquake and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
He wrote books for English beginners interested in the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and his grammar books and English-Japanese Dictionary (compiled with Fumio Nanjo and Yukichika Iwasaki) were regarded as the definitive books on the subject for those studying English in the latter half of the Meiji period.
He wrote much on Japanese history and Japanese art
Japanese art
Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
. His book 'A History of the Japanese People', which was published after his death by The Times in 1915, covered Japanese history, fine arts and literature from the origins of the Japanese race up until the latter half of the Meiji period.
Death
In 1912, at the age of 71 and one month after General Nogi's death, Francis Brinkley died. At his funeral, the mourners included the Speaker of the House of PeersHouse of Peers (Japan)
The ' was the upper house of the Imperial Diet as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan ....
, Tokugawa Iesato
Tokugawa Iesato
Prince was the first head of the Tokugawa clan after the overthrow of the Tokugawa bakufu, and a figure in Japanese politics during the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan.-Early life:...
, the Minister of the Navy Saito Makoto
Saito Makoto
Viscount was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, two-time Governor-General of Korea from 1919 to 1927 and from 1929 to 1931, and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from May 26, 1932 to July 8, 1934.-Early life:...
, and the Foreign Minister Uchida Kosai. He is buried in the foreign section of the Aoyama Reien cemetery in central Tokyo.
After his death Ernest Satow wrote of Brinkley to Frederick Victor Dickins
Frederick Victor Dickins
Frederick Victor Dickins was a British surgeon, barrister, orientalist and university administrator. He is now remembered as a translator of Japanese literature.-Life:...
on 21 November 1912: "I have not seen any fuller memoir of Brinkley than what appeared in “The Times”. As you perhaps know I did not trust him. Who wrote “The Times” notice I cannot imagine. As you say, it was the work of an ignorant person."
On his death bed Frank Brinkley had told his son, Jack, of an episode that occurred during the [Russo-Japanese War. After the Japanese had defeated the Russians at the Battle of Mukden
Battle of Mukden
One of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I, the , the last major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden in Manchuria...
, the Chief of the General Staff, Kodama Gentarō, rushed home in secret to urge the Japanese Government to conclude a treaty with Russia. At the time it was a hugely consequential secret and yet he confided this national secret to Brinkley, the foreign correspendent of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, demonstrating the utmost confidence in which the Chief of the General Staff held Brinkley.
Publications
Brinkley's published works include:- Japan (1901)
- Japan and China (1903)
- A History of the Japanese people(1915)
- Unabridged Japanese-English Dictionary'
- various articles on Japan in encyclopedias.