"I told the Japanese ambassador there to read a biography of Shimpei Goto," Inuhiko Yomota has written from Antananarivo. My distinguished international traveler-scholar friend was in Madagascar's capital to write a travelogue for the publisher Chikuma.

Shimpei Goto (1857-1929) was one of the outstanding public servants who appeared when Japan emerged on the world stage. A physician by profession, Goto started his government service as quarantine inspector during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and later served as communications minister, home minister and foreign minister.

Goto became chairman of the South Manchurian Railways and head of the Bureau of Trade and Plantations. This was patterned on Great Britain's office governing colonial affairs. For that matter, most ministries and bureaus in the Japanese government were set up to correspond to those in Britain or other European countries.