Michael Cooper, né en 1930 à Londres et mort le à Honolulu[1], est un prêtrejésuite américain, missionnaire au Japon et historien du christianisme[2]. Cooper a beaucoup écrit sur les rencontres entre les missionnaires jésuites et le Japon aux XVe et XVIe siècles. Il a été rédacteur en chef de la revue Monumenta Nipponica à Tokyo pendant vingt-six ans[3].
Écrits
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: João 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.
