William Smith Clark was in Hokkaido for only eight months but, as John Maki's fascinating biography shows, his influence has endured. A Yankee in Hokkaido places Clark's appointment to oversee the creation of the Sapporo Agricultural College within the context of the Meiji era's drive to modernize and Westernize Japan and to settle the island of Hokkaido. Maki recounts how Clark inspired his Japanese contemporaries with an idealistic vision...