Reviews for The capital of the tycoon: a narrative of a three years' residence in Japan

The average rating for The capital of the tycoon: a narrative of a three years' residence in Japan based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-02-17 00:00:00 Richard King This book is valuable as a first-hand look at Tokyo (then Edo) at the end of the 1850s and beginning of the 1860s by the first Westerner to ever live there, Britain's first ambassador to Japan. It is written in sometimes wordy, often hifalutin, Victorian English, but that doesn't get in the way of the author's very readable style which is a nice mix of the chatty, the documentary, and the novelistic. It was useful to me in putting what was happening in Japan at that time firmly in the context of what was happening in China, i.e. the second Opium War, where the British and French finally defeated China, thus putting the real and imminent threat of force behind the treaties that Japan signed with the United States in 1858, and then with the other Western powers. The author paints a very comprehensive picture of the Japan of that time, from the nature of the people, to the politics, the food, the social life, the geography, flora, fauna, and more - all stamped with the authenticity of his own personal observations and experiences. The main appeal to me of The Capital of the Tycoon was its coloring in of the historical events of that time in a very anecdotal way as an on-the-ground eyewitness. Besides that, the author's persona as a reasonable, balanced observer who is also conscious and up front about his inevitable biases as an Englishman in Japan is an appealing element in the story. Much of what he describes of Japan 150 years ago is still recognizable in Japan today, in particular his portrayal of a very practical, industrious but basically happy go lucky populace occasionally terrorized by a class of violent buffoons (the samurai of that day, succeeded by the yakuza/right-wingers of today) and rigidly controlled by a twitchy, haughty, inert bureaucracy. Definitely recommended for those with an interest in the history of late Edo and early Meiji Japan.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-08-01 00:00:00 Belinda Sprunkel The Narrative of the Expedtion to the China Seas and Japan credits Commodore Perry withauthorshiop although it was compiled by Francis L. Hawks, a minister for the Episcopalian Church famous at this time for a number of wrtings. He used the journals of Perry, his officers,and several scientific members of the expedition but the language appears to be mainly his own. It's necessary to make a note of this as much of the language contains perjorative remarks about the people and habits encountered and I have trouble believing that serving officers would have written in such a way in what would have been considered formal documents. On the other hand, I don't think it's up to us to judge the language of the past by the standards of today. The prejudices were common to the West of that day and I imagine that the opposite side held equally strange ones of their own although we don't see them here. They are typical - the natives of various islands are "simple", "sweet" or "obedient". The Chinese are "degenerate" and the Japanese said to be cunning and "wily". There is a bizarre explanation given for the existence of the Japanese race and the author literally traces their origin in Mesopotamia and follows them to their eventual finding of the Japanese Islands. This struck me as so odd that I re-read it a few times trying to make sense of it and then realized that this was written before Darwin! There is also a hilarious description of their first exposure to Sumo wrestlers. *6* Once you adjust to this, the narrative is excellent and detailed in everything about Perry's mission. There are also interesting chapters on the customs and culture and a complete analysis of the flora and fauna of wherever thaey went. The reason for the expedition was, of course, to open Japan to the nations of the world. Apparently, the West could not tolerate the fact that Japan had isolated herself from the Western nations and were simply determined to make her open up. Many tried. Commodore Perry succeeded.