Ernest Mason Satow

author

Ernest Mason Satow

1843–1929

A sharp-eyed diplomat and scholar, he helped shape Britain’s relationship with Japan during a time of dramatic change. His writing still draws readers for its vivid, firsthand view of East Asia and international politics in the late nineteenth century.

1 Audiobook

A Diplomat in Japan

A Diplomat in Japan

by Ernest Mason Satow

About the author

Born in London in 1843, Ernest Mason Satow became one of Britain’s best-known diplomats in East Asia. He is especially remembered for his work in Japan, where he arrived as a young interpreter and witnessed the turbulent final years of the Tokugawa shogunate and the rise of the Meiji state.

Alongside his diplomatic career, he built a lasting reputation as a scholar and writer. His deep knowledge of Japanese language, history, and politics gave his books unusual authority, and his memoir A Diplomat in Japan remains a widely read account of the period.

Satow later served in several major diplomatic posts, including appointments in Siam, Uruguay, and China, before ending a long public career with the standing of a senior British statesman. He died in 1929, but his work continues to interest readers who enjoy history, travel, and the meeting of cultures.