The Asiatic Society of Japan, Inc. (一般社団法人日本アジア協会” or “Ippan Shadan Hojin Nihon Ajia Kyokai”) or "ASJ" is a non-profit organization of Japanology. ASJ serves members of a general audience that have shared interests in Japan. Founded in 1872 as , ASJ is

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's oldest learned society. The Honorary Patron is

Hisako, Princess Takamado (born ; 10 July 1953), is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Norihito, Prince Takamado. Background and education Hisako was born on 10 July 1953 in Shirokane, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of Japanese industrialist ...

. The Representative Director and President as of September 2019 is H.E. Ambassador Yoshinori Kato.

Overview

The Asiatic Society of Japan's founders set into motion coordinated activities "to collect and publish information on subjects relating to Japan and other Asiatic Countries." They intentionally differentiated ASJ from its affiliated Royal Asiatic societies of the day by having established ASJ as a "Society for scholarly gentlemen" rather than a society of scholars. Nor was "Royal" to be used in ASJ's title, a measure to encourage Japanese people to join. Women also began to join within a few years. ASJ quickly became the first organization of its kind in Japan to promote the sharing of discoveries about Japan to the rest of the world. ASJ was founded at a meeting held on 8 October 1872 at the Grand Hotel, Yokohama, when Robert Grant Watson of the British Legation was elected the first President, and the first papers were read there on 30 October—''Notes on Loochoo'' by Ernest Mason Satow, then Japanese Secretary at the British Legation, and ''The Hyalonema Mirabilis'', a marine biological study by Henry Hadlow, a Royal Navy surgeon. The opening papers were significant for two reasons: the subjects themselves, and the presence of Dr. James Curtis Hepburn and Satow at the very beginning of the ASJ's life. ASJ's founders and earliest members were adventurous leaders who became pillars of Japan's modernization and industrialization at the dawn of Meiji Period. Physicians, scientists, teachers, engineers, military officers, lawyers, and diplomats numbered among them. In those days, there were numerous organizations like ASJ, each in their own way serving as focal points for documenting and discussing the discoveries that were being made by the men who were participating in the building of a new Japan. Many members of ASJ were also members of the other organizations. Japanese members who were central to the Meiji Restoration included:

Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of Judo. Along with Ju-Jutsu, Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical inno ...

, Baron Naibu Kanda,

Tsuda Sen was a politician, educator and writer in Meiji period Japan. He was one of the founders of Aoyama Gakuin university, and the father of noted author Tsuda Umeko. Biography Tsuda was born as the fourth son of a low ranking ''samurai'' of Sakura ...

Nakamura Masanao was a Japanese educator and leading figure during the Meiji period. He also went by his pen name . Biography Born to a samurai family in Edo, Nakamura was originally a Confucian scholar. In 1866, as an academic supervisor, he accompanied a ...

, and Viscount Mori Arinori. The 'foreign expert' group was, likewise, a roster of the famous: Dr. James Curtis Hepburn; Josiah Conder;

John Milne John Milne (30 December 1850 – 31 July 1913) was a British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph. Biography Milne was born in Liverpool, England, the only child of John Milne of Milnrow, and at first raised in ...

Edward Divers Edward Divers FRS (27 November 1837 – 8 April 1912) was a British experimental chemist who rose to prominence despite being visually impaired from young age. Between 1873 and 1899, Divers lived and worked in Japan and significantly contribute ...

James Main Dixon right , 235px , James Main Dixon, 1902 James Main Dixon FRSE (1856, Paisley – 27 September 1933) was a Scottish teacher and author, and an important scholar of the Scots language. Life He was born in Paisley in Scotland the son of Rev ...

and

Charles Dickinson West Charles Dickinson West (January 1847 – 10 January 1908) was an Irish mechanical engineer and naval architect, who worked for many years at the Imperial College of Engineering, in Meiji era Japan. Biography West was born in Dublin, Ireland as ...

, all of the Imperial College of Engineering;

Henry Faulds Henry Faulds (1 June 1843 – 24 March 1930) was a Scottish doctor, missionary and scientist who is noted for the development of fingerprinting. Early life Faulds was born in Beith, North Ayrshire, into a family of modest means. Aged 13, he wa ...

of the Tsukiji Hospital;

Robert Maclagan General Sir Robert Maclagan (14 December 1820 – 1894) was a British Army officer and military engineer. He served most of his career in India. Life He was born on 14 December 1820 the son of Jane Whiteside and her husband, the eminent Edin ...

of the Osaka Mint;

Basil Hall Chamberlain Basil Hall Chamberlain (18 October 1850 – 15 February 1935) was a British academic and Japanologist. He was a professor of the Japanese language at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during th ...

; and

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

Ernest Mason 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 ...

. ASJ, embracing a core of pioneers with the self-imposed task of interpreting the Japanese and their civilization to the rest of the world, played a highly significant part in transmitting new standards of critical and technical excellence to a whole generation of Japanese teachers and students, which, once adopted, made the 'foreign experts' superfluous. By the 1890s, ASJ's first generation of Japanese and foreign members—leaders of change in Meiji—began to move on. Academicians began to make-up more of the membership. Today, the membership is approximately: academicians (46%); businesspeople (36%); students, fine arts, clergy, retired and other (18%). ASJ is still active today. Members meet monthly to hear a guest explain discoveries based on original research. The lectures last approximately fifty minutes and are followed by questions and discussion. Topics have come from the full spectrum of fields of knowledge as related to Japan, including culture, history, literature, science, business, politics, and economics.

Publications

''The Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan'' is a journal that contains the full texts of selected papers presented at meetings, as well as other papers submitted for publication. The ASJ also publishes a monthly newsletter known as the ''Bulletin'', which contains a detailed summary of the previous month's lecture, lecturers' profiles, announcements of coming events, and news about the ASJ and its members. For most of the ASJ's history, there has been no limit to the range of interests covered in the pursuit of the objective. The first ten volumes of the Society's Transactions, 1872-1882, printed 146 papers, of which 25 can be roughly classified as geographical or topographical. They are, however, far outnumbered by the largest subject grouping: the scientific papers during the same period, which included 52 studies. But to take the figures further, during the second decade, 1882-1892, 107 papers were printed, of which only 4 were geographical and 18 scientific, a reflection of the end of the 'exploration' phase of Meiji. The men who contributed to the exploration phase and to the explosive growth of the ASJ during its first 20 years began to wind-up their activities and move to their next opportunities. On the occasion of the 110th Anniversary of the ASJ, after having completed his historical account of the first one-hundred years of the ASJ, President Douglas Moore Kenrick remarked to Their Imperial Highnesses and members present:

Early Presidents

Presidents of the organization during the 19th century: * 1872–1873: Robert Grant Watson * 1873–1874: Dr

James Curtis Hepburn James Curtis Hepburn (; March 13, 1815 – September 21, 1911) was an American physician, translator, educator, and lay Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into ...

* 1874–1876:

Samuel Robbins Brown Rev. Samuel Robbins Brown D.D. (June 16, 1810 – June 20, 1880) was an American missionary to China and Japan with the Reformed Church in America. Birth and education Brown was born in East Windsor, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College ...

* 1876–1878:

Harry Smith Parkes Sir Harry Smith Parkes (24 February 1828 – 22 March 1885) was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese ...

* 1878–1879: David Murray * 1879–1880: Edward W. Syle * 1880–1881:

, FRS * 1881–1882: J Gordon Kenney * 1882–1883: Sir

* 1883–1885:

* 1885–1888:

Nicholas John Hannen Sir Nicholas John Hannen (24 August 1842 – 27 April 1900) was a British barrister, diplomat and judge who served in China and Japan. He was the Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan from 1891 to 1900 and also served c ...

* 1888–1889:

* 1889–1890: Rev James Lansing Amerman * 1890–1891:

* 1891–1893: Prof.

* 1893–1895: Rev

Daniel Crosby Greene Daniel Crosby Greene, (1843–1913) was an American missionary of Christianity to Japan. Life Daniel was the son of the Rev. David and Mary (Evarts) Greene, and was born February 11, 1843, at Roxbury, Massachusetts. Immediately after graduating D ...

* 1895–1900: Sir

Notable members

In addition to the

early presidents Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

, other members who joined during the first 111 years (1872–1983) of the organization include: *

Masaharu Anesaki , also known under his pen name , was a leading Japanese intellectual and scholar of the Meiji period. Anesaki is credited as being the father of religious studies in Japan, but also wrote on a variety of subjects including culture, literature, an ...

Mori Arinori Viscount was a Meiji period Japanese statesman, diplomat, and founder of Japan's modern educational system. Early life Mori was born in the Satsuma domain (modern Kagoshima prefecture) from a ''samurai'' family, and educated in the ''Kaisenjo' ...

* Josiah Conder *

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 ...

John Harington Gubbins John Harington Gubbins (24 January 1852 – 23 February 1929) was a British linguist, consular official and diplomat. He was the father of Sir Colin McVean Gubbins. Education Gubbins attended Harrow School and would have gone on to Cambridge Un ...

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

* Baron Naibu Kanda *

Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...

* Neal Lawrence *

* Masanao Nakamura * Edwin O. Reischauer *

Donald Richie Donald Richie (17 April 1924 – 19 February 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also dir ...

Edward Seidensticker Edward George Seidensticker (February 11, 1921 – August 26, 2007) was an American noted post-World War II scholar, historian, and preeminent translator of classical and contemporary Japanese literature. His English translation of the epic '' Th ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Japanese studies Organizations established in 1872 Meiji Restoration 1872 establishments in Japan