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Paul Budden
Historical “Fact-ion”
A student of history who never stops learning.
We are invited to join a journey with the author which he had no intention of travelling upon, indeed did not even know existed, but which has since becoming unfurled occupied many a waking hour. That uncovers what is believed to be the true story of a shady gentleman called Tannaker Buhicrosan, feted as the bold entrepreneur who brought the much-acclaimed Japan Native Village Exhibition to Knightsbridge in 1885.
The research took some ten years to discover the truth about this gentleman, which is perhaps hard to believe as this was a man who held such a position of prominence in London society but is was also a man who did not want the truth to be known. Someone who went out of his way to steer himself clear of the limelight and who, every step of the way, made sure to cover his tracks.
The process of tracking him down was at times been incredibly hard with so many possible trails running dry that it gave the impression that the protagonist was laughing at from his grave as if playing a game of cat and mouse where he is willing the author to fail in his task. The up side of this is when new avenues were uncovered, he goes down them with all the more determination.
The purpose in writing this book is to lay before you all of my research and findings and to let you decide who you believe the man Tannaker Buhicrosan to be. Along the way we are given interesting facts and insights into both Japanese and English events of the Victorian era.
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BOOKS:
Looking at a Far Mountain – A Study of Kendo Kata (2000)
Devil’s Gloves and the One Cut – An Introduction to Ono-ha Itto ryu Kata (2011)
Biographical Portraits – Volume IX (2015)
A Truly British Samurai – The Exceptional Charles Boxer (2015)
The Oshu Kendo Renmei – A History of British and European Kendo (1885-1964) (2017)
A Man of Many Parts – Portrait of an Inimitable Swordsman (2017)
Paper Butterflies (2020)
Your biggest literary influences:
Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, Charles Dickens, Edmund Rostand, Richard Francis Burton, Mark Twain.
Your favorite literary character:
Cyrano de Bergerac. Because it is a story based on the life of a real person and is about unrequited love, camaraderie, bravery and pathos. But always with the wonderful word that is attributed to this writing: ‘Panache.’
Currently working on:
Further research – various subjects.
Words to live by:
‘Love it, Live it’
Advice for aspiring authors:
Keep at it.
Testimonials:
“I have known Paul Budden since 1990 when he facilitated my participation in an international seminar in Japan about the health of school children. Subsequently I spoke at several of the international kendo seminars that he organised and we worked together when he was head of the kendo section in the British Kendo association. Since then we have corresponded about his writing and book projects. I have found him to be tenacious in his research, never being satisfied with second hand accounts and he is quite comfortable challenging received wisdom but always from an evidence base. As evidenced by the number of drafts we have exchanged over the years he works hard in his writing in weaving facts into an interesting story.”
—Ian Parker Dodd, MA Dip Ed., Retired University Lecturer
