Donald L. Philippi (October 2, 1930 – January 26, 1993) was a noted translator of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Ainu, and a musician. Born in Los Angeles, Philippi studied at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

before going to Japan in 1957 on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

to study at the

Kokugakuin University Kokugakuin University , abbreviated as ''Kokugakudai'' () or ''Kokudai'' (), is a Shinto-affiliated private research university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. The university consists of undergraduate departments in humanities and social sciences and ...

. In Japan he became an expert in both

classical Japanese The , also called and sometimes simply called "Medieval Japanese", is the literary form of the Japanese language that was the standard until the early Shōwa period (1926–1989). It is based on Early Middle Japanese, the language as spoken d ...

and Ainu. In the late 1960s Philippi was involved with the Kakumaru movement, but later became disillusioned and left. Philippi is known for his translation of the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and the ancient Shinto prayers known as ''

norito are liturgical texts or ritual incantations in Shinto, usually addressed to a given ''kami''. History The first written documentation of ''norito'' dates to 712 CE in the ''Kojiki'' and 720 CE in the ''Nihongi''. The Engishiki, a compilation ...

''. He also published a book of translations of Ainu epic poems (''

yukar () are Ainu sagas that form a long rich tradition of oral literature. In older periods, the epics were performed by both men and women; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when Ainu culture was in decline, women were generally the most sk ...

''), ''Songs of Gods, Songs of Humans: The Epic Tradition of the Ainu'', and a book of translations of ancient Japanese poems, ''This Wine of Peace, This Wine of Laughter: A Complete Anthology of Japan's Earliest Songs''. Philippi was also a noted technical translator. Under the pseudonym Slava Ranko, Philippi edited and published ''Maratto'', a

little magazine In the United States, a little magazine is a magazine genre consisting of "artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses", according to a 1942 study by Frederick J. Hoffman, ...

focused on Ainu literature and culture. The first issue was published March 3, 1977 in San Francisco. Philippi was also a musician, learning the

shamisen The , also known as or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually b ...

and the

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime durin ...

both in the U.S. and Japan. In the late 1970s, he became familiar in the San Francisco music scene, again using the name Slava Ranko, and performing a combination of biwa and synthesizer music. In 1981, he issued an album, ''Arctic Hysteria''.

Publications

* Philippi, Donald L. 1968–1969. ''Kojiki''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press and Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. (ISBN 978-0691061603)

References

External links

Don Philippi's obituary and interview

Philippi, Donald 1930 births 1993 deaths 20th-century translators Technical translators {{US-translator-stub