Susumu Nakanishi Explained

Susumu Nakanishi
Birth Date:21 August 1929
Birth Place: Tokyo
Alma Mater:University of Tokyo
Occupation:Researcher of Japanese literature

is a scholar of Japanese literature, particularly of the Man'yōshū. He earned his Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) in 1962.

He is widely believed to have conceived the name of the current era of the official calendar of Japan, Reiwa (令和, 2019-). However, it is a custom not to reveal the conceiver of the name of an era, and he has said, 'Era names are not for secular individuals like Susumu Nakanishi to decide, but are determined by divine inspiration. There is no such person as the inventor of the name "Reiwa"'.[1]

Overview

Nakanishi studied at the Department of Japanese Literature at the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), where he was supervised by the Japanese literary scholar Senichi Hisamatsu (久松潜一).[2] He graduated from the university in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature. He continued his studies at UTokyo. His master's thesis was titled 'A Study on the Prosaic Nature in Early Japanese Literature (上代文藝における散文性の研究)'. Nakanishi continued to study under Hisamatsu during his postgraduate studies. In 1954, he lectured part-time at Yukigaya High School.

Nakanishi earned a Master of Arts in Literature from UTokyo in 1955. He wrote his doctoral thesis titled 'A Comparative Literary Study of the Man'yōshū (萬葉集の比較文学的研究)',[3] and he earned a Doctor of Literature degree from UTokyo in 1962. Subsequently, he began comparative studies between ancient Japanese literature and Chinese literature.

He is the honorary president of the Nara Prefecture Complex of Manyo Culture,[4] president of the Koshinokuni Museum of Literature,[5] [6] and has been a guest lecturer at Princeton University. In 1970 he was awarded the Japan Academy Prize for his research in comparative literature and the Man'yōshū,[7] and in 2013 he received the Order of Culture. He has been called "probably the greatest living scholar of the Man'yōshū in Japan".[8]

Honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019-04-02 . 新元号「天が決める」=考案者?の中西進氏:時事ドットコム . 2024-04-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190402150255/https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2019040200888&g=soc . 2019-04-02 .
  2. Web site: 中西 進【京都市立芸術大学名誉教授】 文化部門 « 一般社団法人 全国日本学士会 . 2024-04-21 . ja.
  3. 萬葉集の比較文学的研究 . 東京大学 . PhD Thesis . 進 . 中西.
  4. Web site: Shuku! Nakanishi Susumu Meiyo Kanchō ga Bunka-kunshō o Jushō . 29 October 2013 . Complex of Manyo Culture official website . Nara Prefecture Complex of Manyo Culture . 18 February 2014.
  5. Web site: Kanchō Aisatsu . Nakanishi . Susumu . Koshinokuni Museum of Literature official website . Koshinokuni Museum of Literature . 18 February 2014.
  6. News: Ōmori . Haruyuki . 26 October 2013 . Bunka-kunshō: Kōshinokuni Bungaku Kanchō Nakanishi Susumu-san: "Jūrai-ijō ni shōjin shitai" . . Tokyo . Mainichi Shimbun-sha . 18 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140222144115/http://mainichi.jp/feature/news/20131026ddlk16040649000c.html . 22 February 2014 .
  7. Web site: List of recipients of the prize from 1961 to 1970 . 2013 . Website of the Japan Academy . The Japan Academy . 18 February 2014.
  8. The World in Japanese . Hideo . Levy . Hideo Levy . . February 11, 2010 . 18 February 2014.