What attracted him to the Far East?
As a young boy Blunden had visions of what he later recognised as Japanese landscapes, so it was at a young age that he was drawn to the Far East. At a time when the travel to Japan from the West was very uncommon he took up the offer of Professor of English Literature at Imperial University Tokyo (1924 1927). He returned in November 1947 as a member of the United Kingdom Liaison Mission and again spent three years there this time as Cultural Advisor. In 1953 he and his family moved to Hong Kong so Blunden could accept the position of Professor of English at the university. They stayed for eleven years. Although he always returned to England Blunden had a love of the Far East, describing himself as an old friend of Japan. In both Japan and Hong Kong he was admired and loved by students, academics and dignitaries alike. He once recalled that he was haunted by the sense of the spirit of Japan by Japan in her human expression; of the Japanese scene and that he could not go for a walk in E
