Maggs Bros.

Edwards (1864-1936), a free-lance journalist and traveller, came to Japan in 1898 “for a six-month assignment to write articles on Japanese theatre for two British magazines, the Sketch and the Studio.” (Sharf: Takejiro Hasegawa (1994), p. 41). The present work takes a humerous look at ex-patriate life in Japan: The Missionary at Karuizawa, the Minister at Chiuzenji, the Globe-trotter at Kamakura, the Professor in Nirvana etc. Some of the characters appear to have been based on a real resident of Japan. “1. The Merchant at Yokohama. Air: ‘When I first put this uniform on’ (Sullivan): When I first came to live in Japan/ My duty was simple and plain/ To dazzle the nation with civilization/ Implying more money than brain/ In a mansion as big as the Bluff/ I had servants and horses enough/ while the native possessions/ Outside the concessions/ Appeared to me very poor stuff…” (see picture above). This is one of the rarest and most sought after of the Hasegawa publications. Sharf 69.