Japan's English Studies before Meiji Restoration as Seen in Prefaces of Dictionaries

Abstract

English language learning in Japan began with the Phaeton Incident occured in 1808. The Phaeton (a British warship) came in Nagasaki to capture Dutch ships if there were any. As there was none, she left after taking on the supply of food and water. This frightened not only the citizens of Nagasaki but the Tokugawa Government as well. Right after this incident, the Government ordered some Japanese interpreters of Dutch language to study English, because their poor knowledge of English language seemed to have made the incident worse. The study resulted in two books in manuscript, a primer of English and an English vocabulary book. In 1840, Eibunkan (English Grammar, in manuscript) appeared. Throughout the prefaces of these books, the menace of foreign countries which Japan was now exposed to and the necessity of English studies are stressed. The first English-Japanese dictionary (A Pocket Dictionary of the English and Japanese Language) was published in 1862, but in the preface, there is no such word as menace. Hori Tatsnoskay, editor of the dictionary, says that it is indispensable to know English because it is spoken universally. This was a new attitude to their study of English.