Episode 617 - I am Legend, Part 4

William Elliott Griffis's 'The Mikado's Empire' is a widely read 19th-century account introducing Western readers to Japanese history, institutions, and culture following the Meiji Restoration. Griffis combined personal observation, historical summary, and anecdote to explain Japan's transformation and antiquity to an English-speaking audience. The book includes references to local legends and popular tales, such as the belief that Yoshitsune survived his supposed death. While influential in shaping Western perceptions of Japan, Griffis's work reflects the biases and limitations of contemporary Western writers and should be read critically alongside modern scholarship. It remains a useful primary source for studying Western interpretations of Meiji Japan.

Suematsu Kensho's 1879 work presents a speculative thesis equating the Japanese hero Yoshitsune with Genghis Khan, aiming to popularize and legitimize Japanese claims to Hokkaido and influence Western readers. The book compiles folklore, linguistic conjectures, and selective historical anecdotes to argue for Yoshitsune's escape to Ezo and eventual transformation into Temujin. Written early in Suematsu's career, it reflects Meiji-era nationalist and expansionist sentiments and attempts to tie Japan's past heroes to broader Asian history. Modern scholarship regards the thesis as unfounded and illustrative of how myth and political motives can shape historical interpretation. The work is chiefly of interest for history of historiography and Meiji-era cultural nationalism.