Schoolmaster to an Empire: Richard Henry Brunton in Meiji Japan, 1868-1876

(Hardback)

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Brunton's memoir opens a window on life and times in Meiji Japan from 1868 to 1876, a crucial period in that country's transformation from a medieval backwater into an efficient modern society. "Schoolmaster to an Empire", the premier volume in Greenwood's newly initiated Asian studies series, provides a first-hand account of a 19th-century English engineer and his key role in the epic-making technical developments of the time. Hired by the Japanese at the age of 27 as engineer in charge of a lighthouse project that would light the coast of Japan, Brunton embarked on a series of varied and adventurous experiences whose record is an enlightening case study of the "vatoi", or hired foreign servant, in Japan. Because of the archaic technical level of old world Japan, Brunton the lighthouse builder was also compelled to design, build, and launch ships; build bridges and railways; drain swamps; and pave, drain, and light new settlements. His pages describing his inventive solutions to each new challenge make absorbing and sometimes amusing reading. Brunton's major contribution was probably the training of Japan's first modern mechanics and his insistence on the necessity of scientific training and preparation in a country where technical labour was despised and the skilled trades barely existed. Brunton emerges as a singular teacher not only of technological skills but also of the attitudes and mind set necessary to accomplish ambitious new tasks.

Reviews

This fascinating small book is concerned nearly as much with the century-long attempt to publish the memoirs of R.H. Brunton (and others) as in describing the progress in technology in Japan in the period 1868-1876. At that time, Japan was a major political power, yet in engineering and technological accomplishments was hundreds of years behind the industrial world in general. Brunton was selected to bring Japan up to date. He and his associates brought in lighthouses, wharfage, roads, railroads, and canals; telephone and telegraph, highways and iron bridges, as well as technical training and education in engineering. Progress, once begun, continued at a high level for many years. The passage of useful information was not undirectional; for example, Brunton learned about earthquake-resistant building design from the Japanese. Brunton describes some parts of Japanese history not usually discussed, which will interest students of political history as well as the history of science. The general reader may find it of considerable interest. Useful for upperclass undergraduate and graduate students.-Choice
"This fascinating small book is concerned nearly as much with the century-long attempt to publish the memoirs of R.H. Brunton (and others) as in describing the progress in technology in Japan in the period 1868-1876. At that time, Japan was a major political power, yet in engineering and technological accomplishments was hundreds of years behind the industrial world in general. Brunton was selected to bring Japan up to date. He and his associates brought in lighthouses, wharfage, roads, railroads, and canals; telephone and telegraph, highways and iron bridges, as well as technical training and education in engineering. Progress, once begun, continued at a high level for many years. The passage of useful information was not undirectional; for example, Brunton learned about earthquake-resistant building design from the Japanese. Brunton describes some parts of Japanese history not usually discussed, which will interest students of political history as well as the history of science. The general reader may find it of considerable interest. Useful for upperclass undergraduate and graduate students."-Choice

Author Bio

EDWARD R. BEAUCHAMP is Professor of Historical and Comparative Studies in Education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is the author of An American Teacher in Early Meiji Japan, Learning to Be Japanese, and Dissertations in the History of Education, as well as articles in the History of Education Quarterly. Dr. Beauchamp co-edited Educational Policies in Crisis: Japanese and American Perspectives (Praeger, 1986), Education in Japan: A Sourcebook, and Foreign Employees in 19th Century Japan.