honorific_prefix caption death_date death_place children birth_place image_size honorific_suffix parents birth_date spouse image article_title education name occupation
the right honourable the paris , december 1869 . young ernest mason satow . photograph taken in 26 august 1929 ottery st mary , england takeda eitaro takeda hisayoshi -lrb- 1883 -- 1972 -rrb- clapton , london , england 220px gcmg hans david christoph satow margaret mason 30 june 1843 takeda kane -lrb- 1853 -- 1932 -rrb- youngsatow.jpg ernest mason satow
 mill hill school university college london sir ernest mason satow diplomat
ernest mason satow

sir ernest mason satow gcmg pc ; -lrb- 30 june 1843 -- 26 august 1929 -rrb- , was a british scholar , diplomat and japanologist .
satow was born to an ethnically german father -lrb- hans david christoph satow , born in wismar , then under swedish rule , naturalised british in 1846 -rrb- and an english mother -lrb- margaret , née mason -rrb- in clapton , north london .
his surname is sorbian in origin , meaning ` village of the sower ' .
he was educated at mill hill school and university college london -lrb- ucl -rrb- .
satow was an exceptional linguist , an energetic traveller , a writer of travel guidebooks , a dictionary compiler , a mountaineer , a keen botanist -lrb- chiefly with f.v. dickins -rrb- 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 .
