This is a fascinating account of the fifteen years spent in Japan by William Willis, a British medical pioneer. Quite apart from the importance of his reports on medical practice and the spread of Western medicine, Dr Willis, who worked with the British Legation until 1868, was also a notable eye-witness to many historic occasions. Dr Willis's letters to his family in Ireland are quoted extensively.

First published in 1985, this title is part of the Bloomsbury Academic Collections series.

Sir Hugh Cortazzi was British Ambassador to Japan from 1980-1984.