Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 Captain Broughton, HMS Providence (and her tender) and his voyage to the Pacific 1794–98
- 2 The ‘Bankoku Shimbun Affair’: Foreigners, the Press and Extraterritoriality in Early Modern Japan
- 3 Japan undermines extraterritoriality: Extradition in Japan 1885–1899
- 4 British Journalists in Meiji Japan
- 5 The Tokyo Embassy, 1871–1945
- 6 Captain Francis Brinkley (1842–1912): Yatoi, Scholar and Apologist
- 7 William Keswick, 1835–1912: Jardine's Pioneer in Japan
- 8 The Era of the Unequal Treaties, 1858–99
- 9 Ernest Cyril Comfort: The Other British Aviation Mission and Mitsubishi 1921–1924
- 10 Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria: Britain's Consular Service in the Japanese Empire, 1883–1941
- 11 John Carey Hall (1844–1921): A Career in the Japan Consular Service
- 12 Memories of the Past: The Legacy of Japan's Treaty Ports
- 13 The Centenary of Korea-British Diplomatic Relations: Aspects of British Interest and Involvement in Korea, 1600–1983
- 14 The Anglican Cathedral Seoul 1926–1986
- 15 British Public opinion and the Korean War: A preliminary survey
- 16 A Brush with History: Opening the British Embassy Pyongyang, 2001–02
- 17 Potboiler Press: British Media and North Korea
- 18 Reflections on North Korea: Myths and Reality
- 19 Twenty Years a-Stagnating – The Lost Opportunity of Britain's Relationship With the DPRK
- 20 Building politics: The British Embassy Peking, 1949–1992
- 21 Diplomacy in the East: Seoul, Beijing and Pyongyang 1981–2002
- 22 Odd Arne Westad. The Global Cold War
- 23 Charles Stephenson. Germany's Asia-Pacific Empire: Colonialism and Naval Policy, 1885–1914
- 24 Gordon Pirie. Air Empire: British Imperial Civil Aviation 1919–1939
- 25 Margaret Hall. The Imperial Aircraft Flotilla: The Worldwide Fundraising Campaign for the British Flying Services in the First World War
- 26 Richard T. Chang. The Justice of the Western Consular Courts in Nineteenth Century Japan
- 27 Michael Auslin. Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and Culture of Japanese Diplomacy
- 28 Ian Nish. The Japanese in War and Peace 1942–1948: Selected Documents from a Translator's In-tray
- 29 Hugh Cortazzi, ed. Carmen Blacker – Scholar of Japanese Religions, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections
- 30 Christian Polak, ed., with Hugh Cortazzi. Georges Bigot and Japan 1882–1899: Satirist, Illustrator and Artist Extraordinaire
- 31 Anthony Farrar-Hockley. The British Part in the Korean War. Vol. I: A Distant Obligation; Vol. II: The British Part in the Korean War. Volume II: An Honourable Discharge
- 32 Erik Cornell. North Korea under Communism: Report of an Envoy in Paradise
- 33 Valérie Gelézeau. Séoul, ville géante, cites radiuses
- 34 Donald N. Clark. Living Dangerously: The Western Experience in Korea 1900–1950
- 35 Jane Portal. Art under Control in North Korea
- 36 Felix Abt. A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom
- 37 Kevin O’Rourke. My Korea: 40 Years without a Horsehair Hat
- 38 Arissa H. Oh. To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption
- 39 Keith Howard. Songs for ‘Great Leaders’: Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance
- 40 Michael Lindsay. The Unknown War: North China 1937–1945
- 41 P. D. Coates. The China Consuls
- 42 Michael J. Moser and Yeone Wei-chih Moser. Foreigners within the Gates: The Legations at Peking
- 43 Hsiao Li Lindsay. Bold Plum: With the Guerrillas in China's War against Japan
- 44 Hugh Baker. Ancestral Images: A Hong Kong Collection
- 45 Robert Bickers and Isabella Jackson, eds., Treaty Ports in Modern China: Law, Land and Power
- 46 Odd Arne Westad. Empire and Righteous Nation: 600 Years of China Korea Relations
- Notes
- Index Names
- Index Places
29 - Hugh Cortazzi, ed. Carmen Blacker – Scholar of Japanese Religions, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 Captain Broughton, HMS Providence (and her tender) and his voyage to the Pacific 1794–98
- 2 The ‘Bankoku Shimbun Affair’: Foreigners, the Press and Extraterritoriality in Early Modern Japan
- 3 Japan undermines extraterritoriality: Extradition in Japan 1885–1899
- 4 British Journalists in Meiji Japan
- 5 The Tokyo Embassy, 1871–1945
- 6 Captain Francis Brinkley (1842–1912): Yatoi, Scholar and Apologist
- 7 William Keswick, 1835–1912: Jardine's Pioneer in Japan
- 8 The Era of the Unequal Treaties, 1858–99
- 9 Ernest Cyril Comfort: The Other British Aviation Mission and Mitsubishi 1921–1924
- 10 Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria: Britain's Consular Service in the Japanese Empire, 1883–1941
- 11 John Carey Hall (1844–1921): A Career in the Japan Consular Service
- 12 Memories of the Past: The Legacy of Japan's Treaty Ports
- 13 The Centenary of Korea-British Diplomatic Relations: Aspects of British Interest and Involvement in Korea, 1600–1983
- 14 The Anglican Cathedral Seoul 1926–1986
- 15 British Public opinion and the Korean War: A preliminary survey
- 16 A Brush with History: Opening the British Embassy Pyongyang, 2001–02
- 17 Potboiler Press: British Media and North Korea
- 18 Reflections on North Korea: Myths and Reality
- 19 Twenty Years a-Stagnating – The Lost Opportunity of Britain's Relationship With the DPRK
- 20 Building politics: The British Embassy Peking, 1949–1992
- 21 Diplomacy in the East: Seoul, Beijing and Pyongyang 1981–2002
- 22 Odd Arne Westad. The Global Cold War
- 23 Charles Stephenson. Germany's Asia-Pacific Empire: Colonialism and Naval Policy, 1885–1914
- 24 Gordon Pirie. Air Empire: British Imperial Civil Aviation 1919–1939
- 25 Margaret Hall. The Imperial Aircraft Flotilla: The Worldwide Fundraising Campaign for the British Flying Services in the First World War
- 26 Richard T. Chang. The Justice of the Western Consular Courts in Nineteenth Century Japan
- 27 Michael Auslin. Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and Culture of Japanese Diplomacy
- 28 Ian Nish. The Japanese in War and Peace 1942–1948: Selected Documents from a Translator's In-tray
- 29 Hugh Cortazzi, ed. Carmen Blacker – Scholar of Japanese Religions, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections
- 30 Christian Polak, ed., with Hugh Cortazzi. Georges Bigot and Japan 1882–1899: Satirist, Illustrator and Artist Extraordinaire
- 31 Anthony Farrar-Hockley. The British Part in the Korean War. Vol. I: A Distant Obligation; Vol. II: The British Part in the Korean War. Volume II: An Honourable Discharge
- 32 Erik Cornell. North Korea under Communism: Report of an Envoy in Paradise
- 33 Valérie Gelézeau. Séoul, ville géante, cites radiuses
- 34 Donald N. Clark. Living Dangerously: The Western Experience in Korea 1900–1950
- 35 Jane Portal. Art under Control in North Korea
- 36 Felix Abt. A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom
- 37 Kevin O’Rourke. My Korea: 40 Years without a Horsehair Hat
- 38 Arissa H. Oh. To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption
- 39 Keith Howard. Songs for ‘Great Leaders’: Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance
- 40 Michael Lindsay. The Unknown War: North China 1937–1945
- 41 P. D. Coates. The China Consuls
- 42 Michael J. Moser and Yeone Wei-chih Moser. Foreigners within the Gates: The Legations at Peking
- 43 Hsiao Li Lindsay. Bold Plum: With the Guerrillas in China's War against Japan
- 44 Hugh Baker. Ancestral Images: A Hong Kong Collection
- 45 Robert Bickers and Isabella Jackson, eds., Treaty Ports in Modern China: Law, Land and Power
- 46 Odd Arne Westad. Empire and Righteous Nation: 600 Years of China Korea Relations
- Notes
- Index Names
- Index Places
Summary
I only met Dr Carmen Blacker (1924–2009) once, towards the end of her life, when she was already very ill. Although our only previous contact had been a somewhat scratchy exchange of letters over a possible contribution to a volume of Biographical Portraits that I edited, I found her easy to talk to and charming. Our main common ground was her first book, on Fukuzawa Yukichi, which had been published in 1964, as I started my own far less distinguished career in Japanese Studies. Reading this fascinating mixture of Dr. Blacker's diaries, more formal Writings, and reminiscences by those who knew her makes me wish I had known her better. Her companion and later husband, Dr Michael Loewe, and several former students and friends, contribute memoirs. These inevitably overlap, but they bring out the many formative influences that made her what she was.
Clearly important was family life and school. It was through school that she met Julia Piggott. Carmen was already interested in Japan and the Japanese language but the meeting with Julia Piggott was to provide a strong boost to that interest. Julia, who had actually lived in Japan, was the granddaughter of F. T. Piggott, a legal adviser to the Meiji Government, and the daughter of his son, Major General F. S. T. Piggott, twice military attaché’ in Tokyo. The friendship would last until Julia's death, and the encounter would consolidate Carmen's interest in things Japanese, and eventually lead to her career in Japanese studies. General Piggott, perhaps recognizing a fellow enthusiast, encouraged her and provided her with formal training in the language. He was something of a controversial figure, who could see no wrong in the Japanese, but Carmen clearly regarded him with affection and benefitted from his training as her account of ‘Two Piggotts’, published in 1991, makes clear.
Piggott's tutoring and her own efforts meant that by the time war came with Japan in 1941, she already had a good command of Japanese. After some intensive training in military Japanese at SOAS, she joined Bletchley Park. lt was not a happy experience. She felt undervalued both in terms of salary and the work she was given. However valuable it might have been as war work, she did not enjoy the monotony of carding Japanese words that might just be useful in decoding.
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- East Asia ObservedSelected Writings 1973-2021, pp. 317 - 320Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2023