William Elliot Griffis

William Elliot Griffis was an American writer, educator, and historian known for works on Japan, Korea, folklore, and national history. The Mikado's Empire, Corea, the Hermit Nation, Japanese Fairy World, Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks, Welsh Fairy Tales, and his Millard Fillmore biography show his wide interest in cultures, stories, and historical explanation.

For English-language readers, Griffis is most useful as a prolific interpreter of East Asian subjects and folk traditions for Western audiences of his era. His work reflects nineteenth-century educational habits and cultural assumptions, but it remains historically revealing. Readers interested in Japan studies, Korean history, folklore collections, missionary-era writing, and early cross-cultural popular history will find a distinctive figure.