Countess Iso Mutsu, born Gertrude Ethel Passingham, was a British writer.
10 Facts About Iso Mutsu
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2.
Iso Mutsu married a Japanese nobleman and diplomat, came with him to Japan in 1910 and lived in Kamakura until her death in 1930.
3.
Iso Mutsu's father was the landlord of Count Hirokichi Mutsu, son of the then Japanese foreign minister Munemitsu Mutsu, who was studying at Cambridge, and they fell in love.
4.
Iso Mutsu's husband suggested Iso, meaning seaside, because she loved the beach so much and because it sounded a little like Ethel.
5.
Iso Mutsu liked the country and successfully adapted to it, even giving English lessons to members of the Imperial Family, among them Prince Chichibu, brother of Emperor Hirohito.
6.
Iso Mutsu died in 1930 in Kamakura and her funeral was held in a Christian Methodist church.
7.
Iso Mutsu is buried in the Mutsu family's yagura in the Jufuku-ji temple's graveyard in Kamakura, not far from the cenotaphs of great historical figures Hojo Masako and Minamoto no Sanetomo.
8.
Iso Mutsu was one of the first foreigners in Japan to understand that Kamakura's attraction lies in its extraordinary past and in its temples.
9.
Iso Mutsu wrote her work after years of research, during which she interviewed temple abbots, high priests and monks.
10.
Iso Mutsu was swimming in Sagami Bay when the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 struck, and she described the experience in the 1930 edition of her guide.