Japanese Literary Awards

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Keiichiro Kobori

こぼり けいいちろう

Kobori Keiichiro

Pen Names: Sanseian Koji（Pseudonym used for a waka collection and some literary works）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1933-09-13 （Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Tokyo (birth and childhood) → Tokyo (faculty positions at University of Tokyo and Meisei University)

Career

Occupations
Germanist, Comparative literature scholar, University professor, Researcher, Public intellectual
Active Years
1958-
Affiliations
Keio University, University of Tokyo, Meisei University, Nippon Kaigi (Vice Chair)
Memberships
Nippon Kaigi, Japan National History Association (founder)
Influenced By
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Education

University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Letters / Department of German Literature
Degree: 文学士
Period: 1954-1958
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: Japan
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology
Graduate school / Comparative Literature and Culture
Degree: 修士（文学）
Period: 1958-1961
Year of Graduation: 1961
Country: Japan
Received a Goethe scholarship and studied in West Germany (1961-1963)
University of Tokyo, Graduate School (Doctoral program)
Graduate school / Comparative Literature and Culture
Degree: 博士（文学）
Period: 1963-1968
Year of Graduation: 1968
Country: Japan
Doctoral thesis: 'Young Mori Ogai'

Awards

Japan Goethe Prize
1959
Work: Essay on the wager in 'Faust'
Organization: Japan Goethe Prize Committee
Result: winner
Yomiuri Literature Prize (Research/Translation)
1970
Work: Young Mori Ogai
Category: 研究・翻訳
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: winner
Oya Soichi Nonfiction Prize
1983
Work: Prime Minister Suzuki Kantarō
Organization: Oya Soichi Prize Committee
Result: winner
Seiron Grand Prize
2000
Organization: Sankei Shimbun / Seiron
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Young Mori Ogai

1969 Scholarly study / Biography

A study of Mori Ogai's early life and intellectual formation, contributing to the reception history of Ogai in Japan.

Mori Ogai studiesModern Japanese literatureReception history

Prime Minister Suzuki Kantarō

1982 Biography / Nonfiction

A biographical study of Suzuki Kantarō focusing on his life and political career.

Modern political historyLeadership studies

Aesop's Fables: Transmission and Transformation

1978 Folklore studies / Comparative culture

A comparative-cultural examination of the transmission and transformation of Aesop's fables.

Oral traditionComparative culture
Translations
  • Aesop's Fables (translation)

Bibliography

  • Young Mori Ogai
  • The World of Mori Ogai (translation & commentary)
  • The Thought of Sakoku: Kempfer's World-historical Mission
  • Gates of Western Learning's Eastward Spread: Mori Ogai Studies
  • Prime Minister Suzuki Kantarō
  • Aesop's Fables: Transmission and Transformation
  • Farewell, the Victimhood View of History: What Distorted Japanese Historical Perception
  • On the Showa Emperor
  • On National Rationality and the Kokutai

Translations by Author

  • Aesop's Fables (translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly, annotation-rich styleDiscursive and expository tonePolemic tone in conservative commentary
Recurring Motifs
Historical perceptionLegitimacy of the state and imperial householdReevaluation of Japanese tradition and culture

Legacy

Combines scholarly achievements in German and comparative literature with significant influence as a conservative public intellectual. Noted for extensive work on Mori Ogai and controversial commentary on postwar historical views and the imperial household.

Academic Societies

  • Japan National History Association (founder)

Trivia

  • His father was the Western-style painter Kobori Riuo (Ryūio Kobori).
  • His eldest daughter, Keiko Kobori, is a scholar of religious history.
  • He received the Japan Goethe Prize in 1959 and studied in Germany.