JAPAN THROUGH WESTERN EYES
Manuscript Records of Traders, Travellers, Missionaries and Diplomats, 1853-1941

Part 1: Sources from the William R Perkins Library, Duke University

Japan Through Western Eyes makes available, for the first time, the original manuscript diaries, journals and letters of western businessmen, tourists, teachers, missionaries, government officials, industrialists and diplomats active in Japan from its opening up in 1853 to the onset of the Second World War.

This first part, from Duke University, is both accessible and wide ranging, bringing together 11 individual collections of papers ranging from a one volume diary of an Ohio woman living in Tokyo and Yokohama in 1928 with her husband, to over 1500 letters and more than a dozen volumes describing the observations of a Methodist missionary based in Kobe from 1888 to 1897 and 1903 to 1923.

All of the sources are in English and even those in manuscript form pose no great palaeographic problems. Photographic sources included add another dimension to the first hand accounts of Japanese business, culture and society.

The manuscripts bear testimony to the transformation of Japanese society in the period following Commodore Perry's 'opening up' of Japan. They witness the development of Japan into a major industrial power, the growth of militarism and the proliferation of political and religious ideologies during this period. They are a rich source for social history and offer insights into the interaction between Western and Japanese culture and attempts by both sides to accommodate and understand different viewpoints.

Wherever possible we have filmed the papers of these individuals in their entirety. In a few instances, where the original archive for an individual is huge and only a small section relates to Japan, we have chosen to select just the relevant boxes or folders in question. If so, any folder filmed is filmed in its entirety. 

There is some overlap between regions covered. All of the individuals covered here include significant materials relating to Japan. However, they may also include materials relating to China, Hong Kong, Korea and other areas. Similarly, the papers of individuals covered in our companion project China Through Western Eyes may also include materials relating to Japan. There is no duplication of materials in these two projects.

Because the material is in English and the script is clear it will be possible to set students project assignments to look at the experiences of an individual in Japan, to compare the experiences of individuals in similar or different areas or those of different genders.

The project provides an opportunity for students to look at issues such as doing business in Japan; domestic life in Japan; the life of the foreign community in Japan; missionary work and religion in Japan; Japan's relations with America, Britain, China and Russia in this period; political events; and cultural life. It will be of interest to all libraries supporting East Asian Studies, World History, Economic History and Cultural Studies.