Joseph Henry Longford (25 June 1849 in Dublin – 12 May 1925 in London) was a British consular official in the

British Japan Consular Service Britain had a functioning consular service in Japan from 1859 after the signing of the 1858 Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce between James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and the Tokugawa Shogunate until 1941 when Japan invaded British colon ...

from 24 February 1869 until 15 August 1902. He was Consul in Formosa (1895–97) after the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

and at

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

(1897–1902). After retiring from the service he became the first Professor of Japanese at King's College London until 1916, and then an emeritus professor of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was awarded a D.Litt. by his alma mater, Queen's University of Belfast in 1919. Although not in the front rank of British Japanologists in the 19th century occupied by

Ernest Satow Sir Ernest Mason Satow, (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist. Satow is better known in Japan than in Britain or the other countries in which he served, where he was known as . He was a key fig ...

, Basil Hall Chamberlain,

William George Aston William George Aston (9 April 1841 – 22 November 1911) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat, author and scholar-expert in the language and history of Japan and Korea. Early life Aston was born near Derry, Ireland.Ricorso Aston, bio notes/ref> He dis ...

and arguably

Frederick Victor Dickins Frederick Victor Dickins (24 May 1838 – 16 August 1915) was a British naval surgeon, barrister, orientalist and university administrator. He is now remembered as a translator of Japanese literature. Life Dickins was born at 44 Connaught Terrac ...

, he did make a notable contribution in the field of early Japanese studies.

Japanophile

Longford laboured long and hard to produce several readable and compendious books on Japan and as a member of the Japan Society of London was a strong supporter of maintaining good

Anglo-Japanese relations The Anglo-Japanese style developed in the United Kingdom through the Victorian period and early Edwardian period from approximately 1851 to the 1910s, when a new appreciation for Japanese design and culture influenced how designers and craftspe ...

. He realised that Britain held

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

only as long as the Japanese allowed her to do so, and urged the importance of studying Japan on British readers.

Books

* 1877 -- ''The Penal Code of Japan'' * 1907 -- ''Japan'' (Living Races of Mankind) * 1910 -- 'The Regeneration of Japan', in ''

Cambridge Modern History ''The Cambridge Modern History'' is a comprehensive modern history of the world, beginning with the 15th century Age of Discovery, published by the Cambridge University Press in England and also in the United States. The first series, planned by ...

'', vol. 12 (1910) * 1910 -- ''The Story of Old Japan'' * 1911 -- ''The Story of Korea'' * 1911 -
''Japan of the Japanese.''
New York: C. Scribner's sons
OCLC 2971290
* 1913 -- ''The Evolution of New Japan'' * 1915 -- ''Japan'' (Spirit of the Allied Nations) * 1920 -- ''Japan'' (Harmsworth Encyclopedia) * 1923 -- ''Japan'' (Nations of Today)

References

* 'Joseph Henry Longford (1849–1925), Consul and Scholar' by Ian Ruxton, Ch. 31, ''Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits'', Volume VI, ed.

Hugh Cortazzi Sir Arthur Henry Hugh Cortazzi, (2 May 1924 – 14 August 2018) was a British diplomat. He was also a distinguished international businessman, academic, author and prominent Japanologist. He was Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Japan ...

2007, pp. 307–314, *''The Correspondence of Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Japan (1895–1900)'', Volume One, from the Satow Papers held at

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

, Kew, London. published in full for researchers with notes by Ian Ruxton,

Kyushu Institute of Technology is one of the 87 national universities in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, it is dedicated to education and research in the fields of science and technology. It is earlier abbreviated to KIT and is now officially ab ...

, Lulu Press Inc., July 2005. (This book contains many letters from Longford to Sir Ernest Satow.) British consuls Academics of King's College London Alumni of Queen's University Belfast British expatriates in Japan 1849 births 1925 deaths British Japanologists {{UK-academic-bio-stub

Japanophile

Books

See also

References