18 Facts About Francis Brinkley

Francis Brinkley was an Anglo-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.

Frank Brinkley was born at Parsonstown House, County Meath in 1841.

Francis Brinkley went to Royal School Dungannon before entering Trinity College, where he received the highest records in mathematics and classics.

In 1866, Francis Brinkley visited Nagasaki on his way to Hong Kong.

Reportedly, Francis Brinkley was impressed by the warriors' conduct, which enticed him to live in Japan permanently.

In 1867, Francis Brinkley returned to Yokohama, Japan, never again to return home.

Francis Brinkley resigned his commission in 1871 to take up the post of foreign advisor to the new Meiji government and taught artillery techniques to the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Naval Gunnery School.

Francis Brinkley mastered the Japanese language soon after his arrival, and both spoke and wrote it well.

In 1878, Francis Brinkley 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 1878, media in Japan reported that Francis Brinkley was married to Yasuko Tanaka, a daughter of a former samurai from the Mito clan.

Francis Brinkley fought the rejection and eventually succeeded by appealing to the British judiciary in February 1890.

In 1881, Francis Brinkley purchased the The Japan Weekly Mail.

Francis Brinkley was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by Emperor Meiji for his contributions to better Anglo-Japanese relations.

Francis Brinkley was an adviser to the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Japan's largest shipping line.

Francis Brinkley's 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.

Frank Francis Brinkley had many hobbies, which included gardening, collecting Japanese art and pottery, cricket, tennis, horse riding and hunting.

Francis Brinkley wrote much on Japanese history and Japanese art.

Francis Brinkley is buried in the foreign section of the Aoyama Reien cemetery in central Tokyo.