Cortazzi , Sir , (Arthur Henry) Hugh , 1924- , knight , diplomat

Born, 1924, educated at Sedbergh School, St Andrews and London Universities; served in the Royal Air Force (RAF), 1943-1947 after which he joined the Foreign Office; held posts in Singapore, 1950-1951, Tokyo, 1951-1954, 1961-1965, 1966-1970, Britain 1954-1958, 1965-1966, Bonn, 1958-1960, Royal College of Defence Studies, 1971-1972, and Washington, 1972-1975; appointed, 1975, Deputy Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1975-1980; and Ambassador to Japan, 1980-1984; after retiring from diplomatic service, Cortazzi held office as Director, Hill Samuel & Co., later Hill Samuel Bank, 1984-1991; Senior Adviser: NEC Corporation, Japan, 1992-; Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, Japan, 1992-; Bank of Kyoto, 1992-; Wilde Sapte, solicitors, 1992-; PIFC Consulting Plc, 1993;; Director: Foreign and Colonial Pacific Trust, since 1984; GT Japan Investment Trust plc, since 1984; Thornton Pacific (formerly Pacific) Investment Trust, since 1986; Member of the Economic and Social Research Council, 1984-1989; President, Asiatic Society of Japan, 1982-83; Chairman of The Japan Society 1985-1995; Member of the Council and Court, Sussex University, 1985-1992; Hon. Fellow, Robinson College, Cambridge, 1988; Hon. Dr Stirling, 1988. Grand Cordon, Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan), 1995; appointed GCMG 1984 (KCMG 1980; CMG 1969).

Publications: Translated from Japanese, Genji Keita: The Ogre and other stories of the Japanese Salarymen, 1972; The Guardian God of Golf and other humorous stories, 1972, reprinted as The Lucky One, 1980; (ed) Mary Crawford Fraser, A Diplomat's Wife in Japan: sketches at the turn of the century, 1982; Isles of Gold: antique maps of Japan, 1983; Higashi No Shimaguni, Nishi No Shimaguni (collection of articles and speeches in Japanese), 1984; Dr Willis in Japan, 1985; (ed) Mitford's Japan, 1985; Victorians in Japan: in and around the Treaty Ports, 1987; For Japanese students of English: Thoughts from a Sussex Garden (essays), 1984; Second Thoughts (essays), 1986; Japanese Encounter, 1987; Zoku, Higashi no Shimaguni, Nishi no Shimaguni, 1987; (ed with George Webb) Kipling's Japan, 1988; The Japanese Achievement: a short history of Japan and Japanese culture, 1990; (ed) A British Artist in Meiji Japan, by Sir Alfred East, 1991; (ed) Building Japan 1868-1876, by Richard Henry Brunton, 1991; (ed with Gordon Daniels) Britain and Japan 1859-1991, 1991; Themes and Personalities, 1991; Modern Japan: a concise survey, 1993; (ed with Terry Bennett) Caught in Time: Japan, 1995; articles on Japanese themes in English and Japanese publications.