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 (1980–84), President of the Asiatic Society of Japan (1982–1983) and Chairman of the Japan Society of London (1985–95).

Early life

Cortazzi was educated at Sedbergh School, St Andrews University and University of London. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1947, serving in Britain and India, and later elsewhere in Asia. He began in the RAF as an Aircraftman 2nd Class and was assigned to a six-month course learning Japanese, taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies. After completion of the course, Cortazzi was sent to the headquarters of the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre in Delhi, India, just as the war was ending. He was assigned to Number 5 Mobile Section, and was then posted to Singapore as the personal interpreter of General Miles Dempsey, the commander of the 14th Army. In 1946, he conducted many interrogations and produced translations of wartime documents in Singapore. In June 1946, he was posted to the British Commonwealth Air Contingent of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and was based in Iwakuni. There he considered that the tasks he was given to undertake were of little value. Cortazzi was granted a wartime commission in the rank of Pilot Officer in June 1945. He was promoted to Flying Officer in December 1945,

In 2006, Sir Hugh's translation of the Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito's account of his time at Oxford was published as The Thames and I.

Honours

  • University of Stirling, Honorary doctorate, 1988.
  • 2009 – Japan in Late Victorian London: The Japanese Native Village in Knightsbridge and 'The Mikado', 1885, Sainsbury Institute, 2009
  • 2009 – Introduction to A Diplomat in Japan Part II: The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, 1870-1883 , lulu.com
  • 2004 – British Envoys in Japan, 1859–1972. Folkestone, Kent: Japan Library. .
  • 2001 – Japan Experiences : Fifty Years, One Hundred Views Post-War Japan Through British Eyes, 1945-2000, Folkestone Kent: Japan Library. (cloth)
  • 2000 – Collected Writings of Sir Hugh Cortazzi, vol. II; London: Routledge. (cloth)
  • 1998 – Japan and Back and Places Elsewhere [reprinted University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2000; (cloth)]
  • 1995 – Caught in Time: Japan (with Terry Bennett). Boston: Weatherhill; (cloth)
  • 1994 – Japan. New York: Paul & Co. Publishers Consortium;
  • 1993 – Modern Japan: a concise survey [reprinted by Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2006; (paper)]
  • 1992 – Britain and Japan 1859-1991: Themes and Personalities (with Gordon Daniels). London: Routledge; (cloth)
  • 1990 – The Japanese Achievement (Sidgwick & Jackson Great Civilizations series). London: Sidgwick & Jackson; [reprinted by Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire: 1990; (cloth)]
  • 1988 – Kipling's Japan, (with George Webb); London: Continuum International; (cloth)
  • 1987 – Victorians in Japan: in and around the Treaty Ports, London: Continuum International; (cloth)
  • 1987 – Japanese Encounter, Tokyo: Eichosha Shinsha
  • 1987 – Zoku, Higashi no Shimaguni, Nishi no Shimaguni, Chuokoron-sha
  • 1986 – Second Thoughts (essays). Tokyo: Eichosha Shinsha
  • 1985 – Dr. Willis in Japan, 1862–1877: British Medical Pioneer, London: Athlone Press/ Continuum International; (cloth)
  • 1984 – Higashi No Shimaguni, Nishi No Shimaguni (collection of articles and speeches in Japanese), Chuokoron-sha
  • 1984 – For Japanese students of English: Thoughts from a Sussex Garden (essays), Tokyo: Eichosha Shinsha
  • 1983 – Isle of Gold: Antique Maps of Japan Boston: Weatherhill; (cloth)
  • 1980 – The Lucky One and Other Humorous Stories
  • 1972 – The Guardian God of Golf and other humorous stories [reprinted as The Lucky One, 1980]

as Editor

  • 2016 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. X. Renaissance Books.
  • 2015 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. IX. Renaissance Books.
  • 2013 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. VIII. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental.
  • 2010 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. VII. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental.
  • 2007 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. VI. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. [reprinted by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2007. (cloth)]
  • 2005 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. V. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. (cloth)
  • 2004 – Hiro no Miya Naruhito. The Thames and I: A Memoir Of Two Years At Oxford (tr., Hugh Cortazzi). Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental.
  • 2003 – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits, vol. IV. London: Curzon. (Cloth)
  • 2000 – Shillony, Ben-Ami. Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony (eds., Carmen Blacker and Hugh Cortazzi). London: Routledge; (cloth)
  • 1991 – East, Sir Alfred. A British Artist in Meiji Japan (ed., Hugh Cortazzi) - reprinted by Weatherhill, Boston, 1997. (cloth)]
  • 1991 – Brunton, Richard Henry. Building Japan, 1868–1876 (ed., Hugh Cortazzi). Folkestone Kent: Japan Library; (cloth)
  • 1985 – Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford. Mitford's Japan: Memories and Recollections, 1866-1906 (ed., Hugh Cortazzi). London: Athlone Press/Continuum International; (cloth)) [reprinted by Global Oriental, Folkestone, Kent, 2003; (paper)]
  • 1982 – Fraser, Mary Crawford Fraser. A Diplomat's Wife in Japan: Sketches at the Turn of the Century (ed., Hugh Cortazzi). Boston: Weatherhill; (cloth)
  • 1972 – Keita Genji. The Ogre and other stories of the Japanese Salarymen (tr., Hugh Cortazzi). Tokyo: Japan Times.

Notes

See also

  • Heads of the United Kingdom Mission in Japan
  • Anglo-Japanese relations
  • Global Oriental—Cortazzi on publisher's Advisory Board

References

  • Cortazzi, Hugh. "A Japanese sense of humor?", Japan Times. 27 March 2007.
  • "Birthdays: Hugh Cortazzi", Times of London. 2 May 2006.
  • Books by Hugh Cortazzi
  • Japan Society