index
Part 2: Modern era
Chapter 8: Scholars 2. Humanities
OTSUKI Fumihiko, 1847–1928
A linguist of the Japanese language. He authored Japan's first modern Japanese dictionary, Genkai. He was born into a family of scholars: his father was the Confucian scholar Otsuki Bankei, and his grandfather was the Dutch studies scholar Otsuki Gentaku. In 1875, under the order of the Ministry of Education, he began compiling a Japanese-language dictionary. However, the completed manuscript was never published by the Ministry, and he personally funded and realized the publication of the four-volume Genkai from 1889 to 1891. He continued compiling words and researching etymology thereafter, and he passed away while working on Daigenkai, an expanded and revised version of Genkai.
123 Tokyo Surangu (Tokyo slang), [Meiji to Taisho Eras] [W57-29]
A handwritten list of vocabulary. As indicated in the title, the work contains a record of approximately 2700 colloquial, or occupational terms used in the Tokyo area. Each entry contains a headword, followed by notes on its part of speech, meaning, and etymology. Otsuki began compiling this glossary in 1890, while in the midst of publishing Genkai, and continued editing it for at least 20 years thereafter. Many of the words recorded in this list were later incorporated into the posthumously published Daigenkai, thereby suggesting that this list served as a foundational reference during the expanded dictionary's compilation.
NAITO Konan, 1866-1934
Naito was a scholar of eastern history. He was from Akita Prefecture. After graduating from the Akita Normal School, he went to Tokyo and worked as a journalist. He often went to China and Manchuria for academic research. In 1907, he became an instructor at the Imperial University of Kyoto and later became a professor. He systematized his broad knowledge of eastern history. He is also known as a critic among literary circles during the Meiji era and also known as a calligrapher.
124 TOMINAGA Chuki, Okina no fumi, published by FUJIYA Chobee, 1746 [WB1-4]
This is a representative work of Tominaga Chuki, a thinker in the mid-Edo period. It is written for the common people in hiragana and talks about the way of the truth which is more important than Shintoism, Confucianism or Buddhism. It was found be in existence when obtained by Kameda Jiro in 1924. The news of the existence of the book was publicized on the newspaper. The part shown is the afterward Naito wrote to the book Kameda found. In dignified writing, he says he was blown away by the news that the book he was looking for over 30 years was found, and he immediately made the copy using collotype printing equipment. The news of the discovery of the book seems to have been informed through Ishihama Juntaro (the orientalist) who was in the Mongolian Language course at the Osaka Gaikokugo Gakko (Osaka School of Foreign Languages) where Kameda taught Japanese class at that time. There is a letter written by Naito which says, "If I can borrow it, I would like to borrow it as soon as possible." which shows how excited Naito was (A letter to Ishihama dated January 23, 1924. The National Diet Library keeps the copy made by Kameda.).
翁の文（内藤による跋文）
KAMEDA Jiro, 1876-1944
Kameda was a Japanese Scholar. He was from Hyogo Prefecture. After graduating from the Imperial University of Tokyo, he became a temporary employee of the Committee of Investigation of the Japanese Language, and engaged in research and compilation for establishing standard Japanese. He worked as a professor at the Seventh Higher School (later Kagoshima University), the Osaka Foreign Language School, the Otani University and other schools. He made great achievements in research on old dictionaries and Chinese rhyming dictionaries, researches on Japanese by Westerners. 6,900 books of Kameda Collection including the systematic "setsuyoshu" (popular dictionary) collections from the Muromachi period (14th century) to the Meiji era are housed in the National Diet Library through the mediation of Kindaichi Kyosuke and others. The Material 179 and 183 are from old possessions of Kameda.
125 MOTOORI Norinaga, Mikuni kotoba katsuyo kagami, 2vol, transcribed by KAMEDA Jiro, 1904 [815.4-M8932m2]
These are the copies of the book owned by the Imperial Library (Related material 81) made by Kameda who was 19 years old. The postscript says, "This is a copy of the old manuscript owned by the Imperial Library". Characters and spaces are exactly the same as in the manuscript, and it could have been copied with the paper being overlaid. It is a curious turn of fate that both the original and the copy are housed in the National Diet Library. The book is about the inflections of the Japanese language.
亀田次郎写『御国辞活用鏡』下巻の奥書
125 Related material: MOTOORI Norinaga, Mikuni kotoba katsuyo kagami, 2vol, [transcribed in the Edo period][126-13]
『御国辞活用鏡』下巻の巻末
Trivia
Making copies before the invention of the copier
Before the widespread use of printing technology, written materials were often copied by hand. Even after the advent of commercial printing using woodblock technology during the Edo period, materials that were difficult to obtain or not intended for commercial distribution continued to be copied by hand. Scholars, in particular, borrowed and copied rare books repeatedly as part of their studies, and this practice continued even into modern times.
For example, in 1904, Kameda Jiro copied materials by hand in the reading room of the Imperial Library, which was the predecessor of the National Diet Library. Incidentally, copiers first became commercially available during the 1950s.
OKADA Mareo, 1898-1943
Okada was a scholar of Japanese and Japanese literature. He made remarkable achievements in the history of waka poetry, kanji reading and meaning as well as old dictionaries. He studied at the Imperial University of Kyoto, and became a professor at Ritsumeikan University, but took leave immediately after he became a professor. He died at the age of 46. As he had suffered illness ever since he was young, Okada committed himself to study. His researches and evidences are evaluated as the ones which "strive for authenticity on every last detail" (preface by Shinmura Izuru for the posthumous work Ruiju myogisho no kenkyu). He is also known as a book collector. 1,400 books of his old possessions are housed in the National Diet Library through the Military Academy for Junior Program.
126 Hanamitsu, 2vol, transcribed by OKADA Mareo, 1918 [わ913.4-6]
This is a transcript of nara ehon (old manuscript of fictional stories such as Otogi Zoshi with colored illustration) housed in the Imperial University of Kyoto and copied by Okada who was 21 years old at the time. The postscript says it was copied while the school was temporarily closed due to the Spanish Flu (influenza epidemic resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of people that year and the following year all over the world). It was copied as the original was, but the postscript regrettably says the essence of the book could not have been copied. Hanamitsu is a fictional tragic story of step brothers, Hanamitsu and Tsukimitsu made in the Muromachi period.
花みつ（下巻の奥書部分）
花みつ（挿絵部分）
NISHIDA Kitaro, 1870–1945
A philosopher. After studying philosophy at the Imperial University of Tokyo, he became a professor at the Fourth Higher School in Kanazawa and later a professor at Imperial University of Kyoto from 1913 to 1928. After publishing Zen no kenkyu (An Inquiry into the Good) in 1911, he released numerous essays, constructing an original philosophical system known as "Nishida Philosophy." His thought gained initial traction in the Imperial University of Kyoto and went on to exert profound influence on the intellectual circles of prewar and wartime Japan.
127 Nishida Kitaro shokan, February 22, 1942 [HARADA Kumao Papers: 67]
The recipient, Harada Kumao (member of the House of Peers), had long served as secretary to Saionji Kinmochi, referred to as Japan's last genro (elder statesman). Nishida, then a professor at Imperial University of Kyoto, was an old acquaintance of Harada, who had graduated from the same university. Nishida's letter is a reply, and Harada's preceding letter is surmised to have touched upon the Navy's future expansion amid what was then its string of victories. Nishida's reply cautions against any undue optimism, conveying a tinge of doubt and unease. Nishida died in June 1945, before witnessing Japan's surrender.
西田幾多郎書簡
（封筒）
WATSUJI Tetsuro, 1889-1960
Watsuji was a philosopher and an ethicist. He became a member of the second Shin shicho along with Tanizaki Jun'ichiro and others while he was in the Department of Philosophy at the Imperial University of Tokyo . He studied Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, and also Buddhist art and Japanese history of thought. He frequented the Mokuyo-kai held by Natsume Soseki, and was engaged in compiling the magazine Shiso. He was a professor at the Imperial University of Kyoto in 1931, and was a professor at Imperial University of Tokyo in 1934. Besides Niche kenkyu and Rinrigaku, he made achievements in the study of cultural history such as Koji junrei, Fudo (Climate and culture) and Nihon geijutsushi kenkyu. The National Diet Library has 82 items donated by Mrs. Watsuji Teru including Watsuji's manuscripts.
128 Nihon kodai bunka, Newly-written edition, [1951] [WB12-70]
A new manuscript of Nihon kodai bunka which became the last revision. It was first published in 1920, and revised in 1925 and in 1939. The preface of the edited version says, "I had never been so happy as I was when I finished writing this book." which shows his affection for the book, spending many years on editing it. The inserted material shown has detailed editing directly written on the page of the previous version, and the major edits are written on the manuscript paper with the page to be inserted. Watsuji humbly showed his delight in completing the last revision by saying in the preface, "Inch by inch, I worked on the parts that needed to be clarified and advanced".
YANAGITA Kunio, 1875–1962
Yanagita was a scholar in folklore studies. After graduating from the Law College of the Imperial University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce; he later served as a councilor in the Bureau of Legislation and chief secretary in the House of Peers. After leaving government service in 1919, he worked for organizations such as the Asahi Shimbun and the League of Nations. While doing so, he broadened his understanding of local customs and folklore through his travels to various regions of Japan. After the war, he was appointed Privy Councilor and served until it was abolished. Having experienced famine as a child, he initially aspired to a career in agricultural policy. In his travels across Japan as a government official, he became drawn to the unique cultures and traditions of each region, and this interest led him to eventually pioneer the new discipline of folklore studies. He left behind numerous works, including Tono Monogatari (lit. The Legends of Tono) and Kagyuko.
129 Yanagita Kunio shokan, January 9, 1948 [MATSUMOTO Joji Papers: 282]
A postcard with photograph addressed to commercial law scholar Matsumoto Joji, who, as Minister of State in the Shidehara Cabinet, led the drafting of the Matsumoto Proposal on amending Japan's postwar constitution. Yanagita and Matsumoto were close friends since their days at the First Higher School and entered the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce in the same year. The text conveys the gentle warmth and mutual regard of two old friends in their later years. In addition to this postcard, Yanagita sent many kinds of similar custom-made postcards bearing his image to individuals across Japan who had some association with folklore studies. The study pictured in this postcard at Yanagita's residence was said to resemble a small library.
柳田国男葉書（裏）
柳田国男葉書（表）
Trivia
Censorship by the GHQ/SCAP
Mail and telephone communications in Japan were subject to censorship by the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) from September 1945 to October 1949. Such censorship also helped the GHQ stay informed of public opinion as a form of intelligence gathering to implement occupation policy more smoothly.
Markings indicating GHQ censorship can be seen on Yanagita's postcard (Material 129, front) and Shidehara's envelope (Material 85, back). The recipient of Yanagita's postcard, Matsumoto Joji, had been purged from public office, and the recipient of Shidehara's letter, Ishibashi Tanzan, had also been purged from public office after clashing with the GHQ as Minister of Finance.
Censorship was conducted by the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) under the Civil Intelligence Section (CIS). The CCD censored not only mail but also newspapers, broadcasts, publications, and films.
The letter "J" following the mark "C.C.D." indicates that it was a Japanese person carrying out the censorship, and the number following that identifies the individual censor responsible.