新渡戸 稲造 |
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A little over one hundred years ago, Nitobe Inazo (1862-1933), then a thirty-six-year-old scholar visiting the United States, wrote the following in a letter to William Griffis, author of many books on Japan: "... I have begun a paper on Bushido -- Precepts of Knighthood -- as an essential of Japanese character, in fact, as a key to understand the moral sentiment of her people." This is the first reference we have of Nitobe's plan to write this book, which appeared in American bookstores early in 1900. A few years later, riding upon the wave of interest generated by the Russo-Japanese War, an enlarged edition of the book became a best-seller and launched Nitobe into the role of publicist for Japan. While serving as a cultural mediator for over three decades, Nitobe also distinguished himself in other diverse fields as an educator, author, and public servant. Born into a high-ranking samurai family of the Nambu domain in Morioka prefecture, Nitobe entered the Sapporo Agricultural School in 1877, where he came under the influence of Christianity. He formally joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) while studying at Johns Hopkins University in the United States (1884-87), and remained throughout his life a devout member. Nitobe pursued his advanced studies at several universities in Germany (1887-90), where he received his doctorate in agricultural economics; and, before returning to Japan, he married an American Quaker, Mary Elkinton, which strengthened his personal ties to the U.S. After a teaching stint at his old alma mater, the Sapporo Agricultural School, Nitobe moved to a position as a colonial administrator in Taiwan (1901-03) under General Kodama Gentaro and Goto Shimpei. Through the latter's connection, he was appointed to a professorial post at Kyoto Imperial University; later, he served as headmaster at the prestigious First Higher School (1906-13); and finally as professor of colonial policy at Tokyo Imperial University (1913-19). Nitobe also had many affiliations with other schools, including Tsuda College, Takushoku University, and Tokyo Women's Christian University, where he served as its first president. In the latter part of his illustrious career, Nitobe worked as an under-secretary general at the League of Nations (1920-26); served as a member of the House of Peers (1926-33); and was the Japanese Chairman of the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR; 1929-33), an organization created to improve relations among Pacific-rim nations. Nitobe's experiences as a young man abroad in the 1880s provided him with the inspiration to write Bushido. He writes in his Introduction that the idea first germinated after a visit with the Belgian scholar, M. de Laveleye. The latter had asked how Japanese taught moral education to young people. Unable to answer as he was, the question had lingered in his mind. His wife Mary, too, had frequently asked him thought-provoking questions about Japan. Thus, after many years, it dawned on him that "it was Bushido that breathed the answers into my nostrils." Bushido, we see in retrospect, owes its existence to an unexpected crisis in Nitobe's life. While at the Sapporo Agricultural School, Nitobe suffered a severe nervous breakdown that left him unable to work. Taking a leave of absence to regain his health -- Nitobe seems to have been a workaholic -- he was finally afforded the leisure to contemplate his subject without distraction, and to put his Bushido ideas into writing. After spending time first in Kamakura, then in Shonan, Nitobe next took his family to the United States, to Monterey in northern California, where he wrote most of the book. A family friend, Anna Hartshorne, who was travelling with the Nitobes, played an important role in the production of Bushido. When Inazo was no longer able to write, Anna transcribed at his dictation; later, she helped design the jacket for the first edition. Inazo expresses his thanks to her in his Introduction. Mention must be made, too, of another friend, Uchimura Kanzo (1861-1930), who indirectly influenced Nitobe at this time. A few years before Bushido's appearance, Uchimura -- himself a well-known Christian evangelist and author -- had published two English-language books in a similar genre: How I Became a Christian and Japan and the Japanese. These books rank among the earliest attempts by a Japanese to write for a Western audience. Okakura Tenshin (1862-1913) was another contemporary whose books, The Book of Tea and Ideals of the East, enjoyed similar success in the same period. While the first edition of Bushido enjoyed modest sales in the United States, Nitobe arranged with a Japanese publisher, Shokabo, to print and distribute the book in Japan. This version sold well and went through nine reprints between 1903 and 1909. A few years later, Nitobe switched publishers and had the book contracted to Teibi Publishing Company in Tokyo. He also arranged for selected extracts from Bushido to be reprinted in the Eigaku Shimpo, a magazine for young people studying English. This venture was initiated by Tsuda Umeko and her staff, who had close ties to Nitobe. Sakurai Oson, the editor, appended notes in Japanese to help the novice overcome difficult passages. Sakurai also made the first translation of Bushido into Japanese in 1908. Nitobe's Japanese translation of Bushido apparently caught the attention of prominent people, including Inoue Tetsujiro, Professor of Ethics at Tokyo Imperial University, who was perturbed that an amateur such as Nitobe would write on the subject. Uemura Masahisa, too, the well-known Christian leader, criticized the book and its attempt to "Christianize" the moral values of the samurai. Some foreigners who wrote about Japan, most notably the Englishman Basil Hall Chamberlain, in his Things Japanese, expressed distaste for Bushido. Chamberlain refers to Nitobe disparagingly as a "nationalistic professor." But despite the criticism, the book sold well....
教育者、農政学者、クェーカー教徒としても知られ、日本の思想界に大きな影響を およぼした人物である。では、氏がなぜそれほどまでに幅広く、 しかしながら力強い活動をすることができたのか。それは、人生の奥底に 「ぶれないもの」が存在していたからにちがいない。そして、その新渡戸の心底にあるものを 反射したものが、幻の名著『一日一言』である。 この良書は、新渡戸が、一般の人々、まだまだ本を読みなれていない人にも 読んでもらうことを企図してつくったものである。ゆえに、戦国武将から思想家まで、歴史上の人物の格言なども紹介している。 本書<新訳本>発刊にあたって、『武士道』の現代語訳をした訳者・岬龍一郎氏が 懇切丁寧に訳を施した。合計366日、順境にある人は日々の自戒のために、 不遇にある人はその不遇で心が折れそうになったときに、本書の扉を開いてほしい。 ページ： | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ... | 次のページ | 1/20 |