Ryūsaku Tsunoda

Ryūsaku Tsunoda
Ryūsaku Tsunoda
	角田柳作
	Ryūsaku Tsunoda in his Columbia University classroom
Born	September 8, 1877; Gunma prefecture, Japan
Died	November 29, 1964 (aged 87); Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Occupation	Japanese studies

Ryūsaku Tsunoda (角田柳作, Tsunoda Ryūsaku, 8 September 1877 - 29 November 1964) is known as the "father of Japanese studies" at Columbia University.[1] He was directly responsible for developing the Japanese language and literature collection at Columbia's library.[2] Prominent among the former-students who credit his influence as formative is Donald Keene,[3] who had himself become a later Dean of Japanese studies in the United States.

Biography

Keene's own perspective on Tsunoda was expressed in a lecture given at Waseda University in 1994:

"His vocation was teaching, not writing. His joy as a teacher lay in communicating knowledge directly and enthusiastically to his students. ... As one of his students, I feel it regrettable that Prof. Tsunoda is not known just because he did not publish anything."[4]

Selected works

In an overview of writings by and about Tsunoda, OCLC/WorldCat lists roughly 50 works in 100+2 publications in 4 languages and 2,000+ library holdings.[5]

This list is not finished; you can help Wikipedia by adding to it.

Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories, 1951 (with L. Carrington Goodrich)
Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vols. I-II, 1958 (with William Theodore de Bary and Donald Keene)

Notes

Columbia University: "Founder of Japanese Studies and the Japanese Collection at Columbia University Honored With Event and Exhibition," 2008.
C.V. Star East Asian Library, About the Japanese Collection; retrieved 2012-11-5.
Keene, Donald. (1999). World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600-1867, p. xi.
Keene, Donald. "My Mentor, Prof. Ryusaku Tsunoda," Yomiuri Daily Online (Waseda Online). July 8, 1994).
WorldCat Identities: Tsunoda, Ryūsaku 1877-1964; retrieved 2012-11-5.

References

de Bary, William Theodore. "East Asian Studies at Columbia: The Early Years," Living Legacies: Great Moments and Leading Figures in the History of Columbia University, 2002.
Shirai, Katsuhiko. "Take Pride in Waseda," Waseda Weekly, April 2006. Shinjuku, Tokyo: Waseda University.

External links

Waseda University: "Tsunoda Ryūsaku -- his life as a bridge between Japan and America," 2008.

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[1] Columbia University: "Founder of Japanese Studies and the Japanese Collection at Columbia University Honored With Event and Exhibition," 2008.

[2] C.V. Star East Asian Library, About the Japanese Collection; retrieved 2012-11-5.

[3] Keene, Donald. (1999). World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600-1867, p. xi.

[4] Keene, Donald. "My Mentor, Prof. Ryusaku Tsunoda," Yomiuri Daily Online (Waseda Online). July 8, 1994).

[5] WorldCat Identities: Tsunoda, Ryūsaku 1877-1964; retrieved 2012-11-5.