Bakumatsu Japan

Travels through a Vanishing World

Aimé Humbert, William De Lange

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Paperback

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English

Toyo Press
06 December 2019

Asian history; Diplomacy; Travel & holiday guides; Travel writing; Classic travel writing

Series: Toyo Reference

"Aimé Humbert (1819-1900), Swiss politician, traveler, and educator, arrived in Japan in 1863 as envoy plenipotentiary of the Swiss federal government to conclude a treaty of trade and amity with the shogunate.

Though he was to spend less than a year in Japan, Humber's informed impressions are, in hindsight, of great historical value. Unlike his few predecessors (who were required to stick to the same route to visit Edo and pay homage to the shōgun), Humbert was one of the first foreigners to freely travel around the country with his entourage and record his observations. More importantly, unlike his many successors, Humbert did so just before the fall of the shogunate-during the twilight years of the Bakufu, or bakumatsu in Japanese.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of Humbert's account are his many forays around feudal Edo: to the Daimyōkōji, the ""Warlord Aly,"" with its grand mansions of Japan's feudal lords; to the bustling mercantile district of Nihonbashi; to the temple district of Asakusa; and to Shin-Yoshiwara, the newly-erected licenced quarters on the city's northern outskirts.

Written on the eve of Japan's forceful opening up to the West and its period of dizzying modernization, Humber's account is one of a vanishing word-a unique and mesmerizing world that had been at peace with itself for more than two and a half centuries."

By: Aimé Humbert
Edited by: William De Lange
Imprint: Toyo Press
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 259g
ISBN: 9789492722201
ISBN 10: 9492722208
Series: Toyo Reference
Pages: 172
Publication Date: 06 December 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

William de Lange studied Japanese language and culture at the universities of Leiden and Waseda. He is the author and translator of a number of books on Japanese history, culture, and language.