Her parents were Carlos Paton Blacker and Helen Maud (born Pilkington).

She met the Orientalist and sinologist Arthur Waley at Bletchley Park, and he inspired her to study Chinese in her spare time.

She visited Japan in the summer vacations to study Buddhism, staying with Osaragi Jiro in Kamakura, where she practised zazen.

[7] As President she delivered two addresses: “The Exiled Warrior: The Legend and its Ramifications in Japan”[8] and “Minakata Kumagusu: A Neglected Japanese Genius”.

[6] Carmen Blacker, Scholar of Japanese Religion, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections, edited by Hugh Cortazzi, Folkestone, Kent: Renaissance Books, 2017 (since made an imprint of Amsterdam University Press).