In 1900 the Japanese government sent three young scholars to London to study and equip themselves for university positions that awaited them on their return to Japan -- they were to replace foreign professors who would then be sent home.
In this group sent forth was one who did not very much want to go -- the 33-year-old Natsume Soseki. He suffered from seasickness, displayed gastric problems and, as his diary indicates, was most uneasy about this forced immersion in foreign climes.
Later he wrote: "The two years I spent in London were the most unpleasant years of my life. Among English gentlemen, I lived in misery, like a poor dog that had strayed among a pack of wolves."