Bath in southwestern England, his birthplace and home for his first 18 years, played its part in the makeup of Christopher Hughes. Several generations of his family have lived in that beautiful town of squares, crescents and terraces. Set in a bend of the River Avon and famed since Roman times, Bath is distinguished by its ancient stone buildings, its history as a market town and cloth-weaving center, and its literary associations. Hughes' parents and sister still live there. His father, a businessman, follows a keen interest in local history.
With this background, it is small wonder that Hughes' first study was of medieval history. That turned to modern history, in which he earned his bachelor's and his master's degrees at Oxford University. He earned another M.A. in history from the University of Rochester, in New York. Then he thought again.
"I wasn't sure what I wanted to do," he said. "At that time Japan was increasingly being recognized as a world power. It looked different from the other world powers." That difference intrigued him. He joined a JET language-teaching program, which brought him to Japan, where he was posted to a village in Gifu Prefecture.