W. G. (William George) Aston

Born in 1841 in County Londonderry, William George Aston built a career that joined diplomacy with serious scholarship. He served in the British consular service in Japan and later in Korea, and became known as one of the leading British interpreters of Japanese language and culture in the late nineteenth century.

He wrote influential studies of Japanese grammar and produced major translations, including work on the Nihongi, one of Japan's oldest chronicles. He also published books on Japanese literature and Shinto, helping introduce English-speaking readers to subjects that were then little known outside Japan.

Aston died in 1911, but his work remains part of the early foundation of Japanese studies in English. He is often remembered for combining first-hand experience in East Asia with careful, wide-ranging research.