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Sir Ernest Mason Satow PC, GCMG, (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), known in Japan as 'アーネスト・サトウ' (Ānesuto Satō), known in China as (traditional Chinese) '薩道義' or (simplified Chinese) '萨道义', was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist.<br/><br/> Satow was born to an ethnically German father (Hans David Christoph Satow, born in Wismar, then under Swedish rule, naturalised British in 1846) and an English mother (Margaret, née Mason) in Clapton, North London. He was educated at Mill Hill School and University College London (UCL).<br/><br/> Satow was an exceptional linguist, an energetic traveller, a writer of travel guidebooks, a dictionary compiler, a mountaineer, a keen botanist (chiefly with F.V. Dickins) and a major collector of Japanese books and manuscripts on all kinds of subjects before the Japanese themselves began to do so. He also loved classical music and the works of Dante on which his brother-in-law Henry Fanshawe Tozer was an authority. Satow kept a diary for most of his adult life which amounts to 47 mostly handwritten volumes.<br/><br/> Satow served in Siam (1884–1887), during which time he was accorded the rare honour of promotion from the Consular to the Diplomatic service, Uruguay (1889–93) and Morocco (1893–95). In 1886, while serving in Siam, he travelled to Chiang Mai and the Lan Na states and left a detailed account of his visit.
Tales of Old Japan (1871) is an anthology of short stories, compiled by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, Lord Redesdale, writing under the better known name of A.B. Mitford.<br/><br/> These stories focus on the varying aspects of Japanese life in centuries past. The book, which was written in 1871, is still regarded as an excellent introduction to Japanese literature and culture, by virtue of its ease of access and supplemental notes by the writer. Also included are the author's eyewitness accounts of a selection of Japanese rituals, ranging from the harakiri and marriage to a selection of sermons.<br/><br/> This book had a lasting influence on the Western perception of Japanese history, culture and society, particularly because of one widely known tale about samurai revenge, 'Forty-seven Ronin'.