ABSTRACT
SIR ROBERT CLIVE holds a curious position in the history of Anglo-Japanese relations, for although the period in which he was ambassador to Japan has been the object of much study, the man himself remains a mystery. 1 This is particularly so when he is compared to those who preceded and followed him as ambassador to Japan, Sir Francis Lindley and Sir Robert Craigie. The reason for his relative anonymity is not difficult to explain. Unlike Lindley and Craigie, he did not spend much of his time in Tokyo arguing with the Foreign Office or with his British counterpart in China.2 These may have been years of diplomatic fluidity but they were not ones of controversy between the British Embassy and London.
