In 1905, George Meredith (1828-1909) wrote a preface in the newly published book titled The Japanese Spirit by Yoshisaburo Okakura, a Japanese scholar of English. This publishment was done just in the next year when Okakura delivered the lecture under the same title as a memorial lecture for founding a chair of sociology at the University of London. In the preface Meredith wrote about the Japanese and their culture and gave a high admiration to the race, when they fought the dreadful war——Russo-Japanese War.
Though the preface is not long enough, he estimated the Japanese in the following four points:
(1) The Japanese have the advantages of possessing a native Nobility who were true nobles, not invaders and subjugators.
(2) Bushido, the way of Samurai, has been displayed in Russo-Japanese War by a glorious commonalty as well as the chiefs.
(3) Who could conquer the race who contempt death when the country’s inviolability is at stake ?
(4) A perusal reading of this Okakura’s book will take off the foolish talk of the Yellow Peril.
In this paper, inspecting Meredith’s letters, I traced the way how he reached the recognition of Japan and the Japanese and showed a perspective of what this idea had the relation with his literary worlds.
