Meeting Foreigners’ Questions 4 May 1987

Trevor Leggett was head of the Japanese Department of the BBC.

This is one of his broadcasts to Japan

Zubari for 4 May 1987

Hello Listeners! Today I want to talk about foreigners and their questions, and how to answer those questions when one does not know much about the subject.

Let me take an example from London, where I live. When foreign visitors, especially Japanese tourists, come to London, one of the first places they go to see is the Tower of London. It is very famous. It has a long history, much of it tragic and blood-stained. Scenes in the Tower of London come in some of Shakespeare’s plays. Also, there are the wonderful Crown Jewels on display there.

So, the foreign tourists go to see it. And sometimes they tell me with admiration:  “We have just seen the wonderful Tower of London.”

Now, in the past, when I heard that, I used to feel a bit embarrassed. Because though I worked for 20 years at the BBC, which is only a few minutes by bus from the Tower of London, I had not in fact visited the place at all since I was 5 years old. When I was a small child of 5, my parents took me and my brothers to see it. But I can remember almost nothing of it, except that I was disappointed not to see any blood in the execution room, but I was thrilled to see the shining splendour of the Crown Jewels.

So, I had nothing interesting to the Japanese visitors. All I could say was some colourless remark like: ‘Yes, it is very famous’. And sometimes they looked a little disappointed.

I thought: ‘What can I say that will be really interesting and unexpected for them?’ Then I remembered that our Professor of History of English Law at London University had once remarked casually: “You must always remember that most of the great dukes and barons of the Middle Ages had very little of what we should call education. They knew how to fight, but not how to read. At the Tower of London there is still a giant abacus – a sort of huge Soroban – with sliding beads. This was used 900 years ago to explain to the great nobles how much tax they had to pay to the King. They could not themselves read or do even the simplest calculation.”

When I remembered this, I thought: ‘Ah, THAT will interest them.’  After that, every time the Tower of London was mentioned, I used to nod gravely, and then say: “I suppose they did not show it to you because there is no time to see everything – but there is a giant Soroban at the Tower of London which was used 900 years ago to explain to the great nobles about their taxes. Unlike Japan, most of our nobles in the Middle Ages could not even read.”

The Japanese visitors generally open their mouths in astonishment, and I can see them thinking: ‘Leggett San must have a wonderful knowledge of history.’ Some of them write it down.  In fact, I know only this one thing about the Tower of London.

© Trevor Leggett