Lord Redesdale 
Tales of Old Japan 

‘Tales of Old Japan’ was written by Lord Redesdale in 1871. It is a collection of short stories focusing on Japanese life of the Edo period (1803 – 1868). It contains a number of classic Japanese stories, fairy tales, and other folklore; as well as Japanese sermons and non-fiction pieces on special ceremonies in Japanese life, such as marriage and harakiri, as observed by Lord Redesdale. The best know story of these is ‘The Forty-seven Ronins’ a true account of samurai revenge as it happened at the beginning of 18th century Japan. 



Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (1837 – 1916) was a British diplomat, collector and writer. He worked in Japan as second secretary to the British Legation at the time of the Meiji Restoration.