Francis Brinkley Francis Brinkley ( 30 December 1841 – 12 October 1912 ) was an Irish newspaper owner , editor and scholar who resided in Meiji period Japan for over 40 years , where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture , art and architecture , and an English - Japanese Dictionary . He was also known as Frank Brinkley or as Captain Francis Brinkley , and was the great uncle of Cyril Connolly . Early life . In 1841 , Frank Brinkley was born at Parsonstown House , Co . Meath , the thirteenth and youngest child of Matthew Brinkley ( 1797 – 1855 ) J . P . , of Parsonstown , and his wife Harriet Graves ( 1800 – 1855 ) . His paternal grandfather , John Brinkley , was the last Bishop of Cloyne and the first Royal Astronomer of Ireland , while his maternal grandfather , Richard Graves , was also a Senior Fellow of Trinity College and the Dean of Ardagh . One of Brinkley ' s sisters , Jane ( Brinkley ) Vernon of Clontarf Castle , was the grandmother of Cyril Connolly . Another sister , Anna , became the Dowager Countess of Kingston after the death of her first husband , James King , 5th Earl of Kingston , and was the last person to live at Mitchelstown Castle . Through his mother ' s family Brinkley was related to Richard Francis Burton , a distinguished linguist who shared Brinkley ' s passion for foreign culture . Brinkley went to Royal School Dungannon before entering Trinity College , where he received the highest records in mathematics and classics . After graduating he chose upon a military career and was subsequently accepted at the Royal Military Academy , Woolwich , becoming an artillery officer . In this capacity his cousin , Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell the 6th Governor of Hong Kong ( 1866 – 1872 ) , invited him out to the east to serve as his Aide - de - camp and Adjutant . In 1866 , on his way to Hong Kong , Brinkley visited Nagasaki and witnessed a duel between two " samurai " warriors . Once the victor had slain his opponent he immediately covered him in his " haori " , and " knelt down with hands clasped in prayer " . It is said that Brinkley was so impressed by the conduct of the Japanese warrior that this enticed him to live in Japan permanently . Life in Japan . In 1867 Captain Brinkley returned to Japan , never again to return home . Attached to the British - Japanese Legation , and still an officer in the Royal Artillery , he was assistant military attache to the Japanese Embassy . He resigned his commission in 1871 to take up the post of foreign advisor to the new Meiji government , and taught artillery techniques to the new Imperial Japanese Navy at the Naval Gunnery School . He mastered the Japanese language soon after his arrival , and both spoke and wrote it well . In 1878 he was invited to teach mathematics at the Imperial College of Engineering , which later became part of Tokyo Imperial University , remaining in this post for two and a half years . In the same year he married Yasuko Tanaka , a daughter of a former samurai from the Mito clan . Interracial marriages could be registered under Japanese law from 1873 . Brinkley sought but was refused permission by the British Legation to register his marriage in order that his wife would have undisputed claim to British nationality ( she forfeited her Japanese nationality by marrying him ) . He fought this refusal and eventually succeeded by appealing to the British judiciary , with the help of some influential friends . They were the parents of two daughters and a son named Jack Ronald Brinkley ( 1887 – 1964 ) . In 1881 until his death he owned and edited the " Japan Mail " newspaper ( later merged with the " Japan Times ) " , receiving financial support from the Japanese government and consequently maintaining a pro - Japanese stance . The newspaper was perhaps the most influential and widely read English language newspaper in the far East . After the First Sino - Japanese War Brinkley became the Tokyo - based correspondent for " The Times " of London , and gained fame for his dispatches during the Russo - Japanese War of 1904 – 1905 . He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by Emperor Meiji for his contributions to better Anglo - Japanese relations . He was also an adviser to the Nippon Yusen Kaisha , Japan ' s largest shipping line . F . A . MacKenzie , a prominent English journalist , wrote : " Captain Brinkley ' s great knowledge of Japanese life and language is admitted and admired by all . His independence of judgment is , however , weakened by his close official connection with the Japanese Government and by his personal interest in Japanese industry . His journal is regarded generally as a government mouth - piece , and he has succeeded in making himself a more vigorous advocate of the Japanese claims than even the Japanese themselves . It can safely be forecasted that whenever a dispute arises between Japanese and British interests , Captain Brinkley and his journal will play the part , through thick and thin , of defenders of the Japanese . " Brinkley ' s last dispatch to " The Times " was written from his deathbed in 1912 , reporting on a " seppuku " : Emperor Meiji had recently died and to show fealty to the deceased emperor , General Nogi Maresuke together with his wife committed hara - kiri . Private life . Frank Brinkley had many hobbies which included gardening , collecting Japanese art and pottery , cricket , tennis , horse riding and hunting . Part of his significant collection of art and pottery was donated to various museums around the world , but the most part was reduced to rubble and ash after the Great Tokyo earthquake and World War II . He wrote books for English beginners interested in the Japanese language , and his grammar books and English - Japanese Dictionary ( compiled with Fumio Nanjo and Yukichika Iwasaki ) were regarded as the definitive books on the subject for those studying English in the latter half of the Meiji period . He wrote much on Japanese history and Japanese art . His book " A History of the Japanese People " , which was published after his death by " The Times " in 1915 , covered Japanese history , fine arts and literature from the origins of the Japanese race up until the latter half of the Meiji period . Death . In 1912 , at the age of 71 and one month after General Nogi ' s death , Francis Brinkley died . At his funeral , the mourners included the Speaker of the House of Peers , Iesato Tokugawa , the Minister of the Navy Saitō Makoto , and the Foreign Minister Kosai Uchida . He is buried in the foreign section of the Aoyama Reien cemetery in central Tokyo . After his death Ernest Satow wrote of Brinkley to Frederick Victor Dickins on 21 November 1912 : " I have not seen any fuller memoir of Brinkley than what appeared in " The Times " . As you perhaps know I did not trust him . Who wrote " The Times " notice I cannot imagine . As you say , it was the work of an ignorant person . " On his death bed Frank Brinkley had told his son , Jack , of an episode that occurred during the Russo - Japanese War . After the Japanese had defeated the Russians at the Battle of Mukden , the Chief of the General Staff , Gentarō Kodama , rushed home in secret to urge the Japanese Government to conclude a treaty with Russia . At the time it was a hugely consequential secret and yet he confided this national secret to Brinkley , the foreign correspondent of " The Times " , demonstrating the utmost confidence in which the Chief of the General Staff held Brinkley . Publications . Brinkley ' s published works include :