Journalist, Author and Broadcaster
Specialist in all things Japan
Welcome to my website.
My great passion is Japan but recently I’ve been spreading my wings a bit.
I’m a writer, journalist and all-round Japan specialist. In my books I’ve specialised in Japan but in my journalism I’ve ranged widely, writing travel pieces and covering arts and culture from many parts of the world for UK and US publications. I was the historical consultant for Northern Ballet’s spectacular 2020 ballet, Geisha, and appear on Age of the Samurai: Battle for Japan (Netflix and on Pernel Media’s Sekigahara on French TV. I speak Japanese and am consulted as a geisha and Japan expert.
Journalism and Travel writing
Recent travels have taken me to Mexico, Burma and Uzbekistan.
I write reviews for the TLS and the Literary Review. I also post on the History Girls blog and do podcasts. Here is one of my podcasts, on Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan in 1853.
Age of Samurai
Age of Samurai on Netflix
Thrilled to be involved in this brilliant Netflix series on Japan’s Age of Samurai. … I was lucky enough to be asked to tell the women’s side of the story. […]
Books
I’ve now completed The Shogun Quartet, four novels set in the tumultuous fifteen years after American ships arrived off Japan’s coast in 1853, sparking civil war and regime change. I’ve loved absorbing myself in the glittering and passionate world of nineteenth century Japan.
Here are the four books of the quartet and a few others I’ve particularly enjoyed writing.
The Shogun’s Queen
The Last Concubine
The Courtesan and the Samurai
The Samurai’s Daughter
Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha who Seduced the West
Geisha: The Remarkable Truth Behind the Fiction
The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan’s Richest Family
