By Paul Budden
Gatekeeper Press 2020
“Reader, I invite you to join me on a journey that I had no intention of travelling upon, indeed did not even know existed, but which has since becoming unfurled occupied many a waking hour. It is a journey that uncovers what I believe 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. It has taken ten years for me 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 has at times been incredibly hard with so many possible trails running dry that I have, from time to time, got the impression that the protagonist is laughing at me from his grave as if we are playing a game of cat and mouse where he is willing me to fail in my task. The up side of this is when I have uncovered new avenues, I go down them with all the more determination.
My 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”.