Michael Cooper

Michael John Cooper (1930 – 31 March 2018 ) was an American historian. Briefly a Jesuit himself, Cooper wrote extensively on 15th- and 16th-century encounters between Jesuit missionaries and Japan. He was editor of the journal Monumenta Nipponica in Tokyo for 26 years (1971–1996) and was also formerly a president of the Asiatic Society of Japan.

Works They came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan 1543–1640, University of California Press, 1965 The Southern barbarians : the first Europeans in Japan, Tokyo; Palo Alto, Calif. : Kodansha International in cooperation with Sophia University, 1971 This Island of Japon: Joao Rodrigues’s Account of 16th Century Japan, Kodansha International, 1973 Rodrigues the Interpreter: An Early Jesuit in Japan and China, Weatherhill, 1974 Exploring Kamakura : a guide for the curious traveler, Weatherhill, 1979 Catalogue of rare books in the Library of the Japan Foundation, Office for the Japanese Studies Center, The Foundation, 1986. 'The Early Europeans and Tea', in Paul Varley and Kumakura Isao, eds., Tea in Japan: Essays on the History of Chanoyu, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989 'Early Western-style Paintings in Japan', in John Breen and Mark Williams, eds., Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses, St Martin's Press, 1996 The Japanese Mission to Europe, 1582–1590: The Journey of Four Samurai Boys through Portugal, Spain and Italy, Global Oriental, 2005.