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Module Area Studies: Japan
Title Letters of Sir Edwin Arnold, British poet and journalist, for the period 1869-1903
Collection Japan Through Western Eyes: Manuscript records of traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats, 1853-1941
Author Sir Edwin Arnold
Date 1869-1903
Library Duke University Libraries
Copyright William R. Perkins Library, Duke University
Original Microfilm Part Part 1: Sources from the William R. Perkins Library, Duke University
Original Microfilm Reel 1
Detailed Description

Letters of Sir Edwin Arnold, British poet and journalist, for the period 1869-1903, including many exchanges with Takaaki Kato, Japanese ambassador in London, concerning Buddhism and Anglo-Japanese and Russian-Japanese relations. The collection comprises six folders, which were filmed in their entirety. Most of the material relates to the period in which Japan was Arnold's keenest interest. There are letters from Takaaki Kato, the Japanese ambassador in England, Protopa Chauduroy, director of the translation of the Mahátharata, Joseph Chamberlain, and the US and Turkish embassies.

Folder 1: 1869-95; folder 2: 1896-99; folder 3: 1900-03; folder 4: undated; folder 5: additions; folder 6: additions.
Extracts

Arnold’s close relations with his Japanese contacts is illustrated with the following letter from Takaaki Kato:

"Feb 18 [1895]

Dear Sir Edwin,

Many thanks for the note which you kindly addressed to me some days ago. I was very much pleased to learn that a high authority like Lord Roberts should speak so highly about the military and naval forces of my beloved country.

It is highly gratifying to me and to you too - I venture to say, seeing and knowing that your sympathy is so entirely Japanese - to have learned the particulars about the final and complete surrender of the Chinese at Wei-hai-wei. Although I have not yet received the official confirmation of the event from my government I have no doubt that the particulars given out by news agencies are substantially correct.

What is your opinion about the rumoured Anglo-Russian understanding in the affairs of the Far East? If you may come into possession of any news of interest in this concern I shall be obliged by your informing me of the same.

I remain

Yours very truly

T. Kato"

[Letter from His Excellency Takaaki Kato, Japanese ambassador to the United Kingdom]
Other Notes Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) first travelled to Asia in 1856 when he was appointed head of Deccan College in Poona, India. At once he began to learn a range of Asian languages, immersed himself in Asian culture and was appointed a fellow of Bombay University. He distinguished himself during the Indian Mutiny. He became leader writer for the Daily Telegraph from 1861 and editor from 1873. The publication of his epic poem on the Buddhist account of the life of Gautama, The Light of Asia (1879), brought him considerable fame. The volume went through over sixty editions in England and over eighty in America, and was translated into many languages. Arnold was knighted in 1888 and stepped down from the Daily Telegraph in order to travel. He visited Japan in 1889 and fell in love with Japanese life and culture. His East and West (1896) describes his travels in Japan and his articles in journals and newspapers helped to foster Anglo-Japanese relations. His third wife was Tama Kurokawa of Sendai, Japan.