Mineta Fūkō (嶺田楓江; 1818 - 1883)

Mineta Fūkō (嶺田楓江; 1818 - 1883) – was a Japanese scholar, most famous for publishing a multi-volume work in 1849 titled New Tales from Abroad (海外新話) about the Opium War, and more generally about the major changes in the global balance of power towards Europe. The book sent shockwaves through Japanese intellectual circles and the Tokugawa government set out to censor it, seizing any copy they could find, destroying the woodblocks used to publish it, and arresting Mineta. However, hand-copied versions continued to circulate, unsettling Japanese intellectuals but preparing them somewhat for the arrival of American warships in Tokyo Bay in 1853.