Eminent British historian and specialist in modern Japanese history W.G. Beasley died of pneumonia Nov. 19 in Britain. He was 87.
His publications included "The Modern History of Japan" (1963), "The Meiji Restoration" (1972), "Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945" (1987) and "The Rise of Modern Japan" (1990).
Beasley was one of the very few foreign honorary members of the Japan Academy, to which he was appointed in 1984. He served as professor of the history of the Far East at the School of Oriental Studies in the University of London from 1954 to 1983. He was a Fellow of the British Academy and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (third class) in 1983.
He had many Japanese friends and was widely respected among academics here for his writings and research.
He had been incapacitated after suffering a stroke three years ago.