   sir ernest mason satow gcmg pc; (30 june 1843 &ndash; 26 august 1929), was a british scholar, diplomat and japanologist.nussbaum, "satow, ernest mason," ; nish, ian. (2004). british envoys in japan 1859â1972, pp. 78â88. 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, nÃ©e mason) in clapton, north london. he was educated at mill hill school and university college london (ucl). 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. as a celebrity, albeit not a major one, he was the subject of a cartoon portrait by spy in the british vanity fair magazine, 23 april 1903. == general == satow is better known in japan than in britain or the other countries in which he served. he was a key figure in east asia and anglo-japanese relations, particularly in bakumatsu (1853â1867) and meiji era (1868â1912) japan, and in china after the boxer rebellion, 1900-06. he also served in siam, uruguay and morocco, and represented britain at the second hague peace conference in 1907. in his retirement he wrote a guide to diplomatic practice, now known as 'satow's guide to diplomatic practice' - this manual is widely used today, and has been updated several times by distinguished diplo
1843_births 1929_deaths Alumni_of_University_College_London Ambassadors_of_the_United_Kingdom_to_China Ambassadors_of_the_United_Kingdom_to_Japan Ambassadors_of_the_United_Kingdom_to_Morocco Ambassadors_of_the_United_Kingdom_to_Thailand Ambassadors_of_the_United_Kingdom_to_Uruguay Botanists_with_author_abbreviations British_Japanologists British_diplomats_in_East_Asia British_expatriates_in_Japan British_orientalists British_people_of_the_Boxer_Rebellion Edo_period English_people_of_German_descent English_people_of_Swedish_descent JapaneseaEnglish_translators Knights_Grand_Cross_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George Meiji_Restoration Members_of_the_Privy_Council_of_the_United_Kingdom People_associated_with_the_Hague_Peace_Conferences People_educated_at_Mill_Hill_School People_from_Upper_Clapton Sorbian_people