Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

. Keene was University

Professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he taught for over fifty years. Soon after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

, he retired from Columbia, moved to Japan permanently, and acquired citizenship under the name Kīn Donarudo (キーンドナルド) which is essentially his birth name in the Japanese name order. This was also his poetic and occasional nickname, spelled in the ''

ateji In modern Japanese, principally refers to kanji used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words with less regard to the underlying meaning of the characters. This is similar to in Old Japanese. Conversely, also refers to kanji used s ...

'' form .

Early life and education

Donald Lawrence Keene was born on June 18, 1922, in

Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

. His father was an international trade businessman while his

stay-at-home mother A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct ...

raised both Keene and his elder sister. In July 1931, amid the economic crisis of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, a 9-year-old Keene begged his father to allow him to accompany him on a business trip to Europe, to which his father agreed. He and his father boarded a

United States Lines United States Lines was an organization of the United States Shipping Board's (USSB) Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all finances of t ...

ship sailing to

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, disembarking at

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

. He and his father continued on to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by train. In Paris, Keene met a girl around his age, but the language barrier made it difficult to talk with her, so he proceeded to sing to her '' Frère Jacques'', which was the only song he knew in French. These experiences instilled in him a great sense of curiosity for cultures abroad, as well as learning languages. In 1933, two years after his visit to France, Keene's elder sister died of illness, which was followed by his parents divorce. Keene attended the James Madison High School, while living with his mother, where he showed great academic achievement. He then enrolled at Columbia University, where he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

1942, studying under

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...

, Moses Hadas, Lionel Trilling, and

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-born American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, ...

. While at Columbia, he was obsessed with

Arthur Waley Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 188927 June 1966) was an English orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Among his honours were ...

's English translation of ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

'', and he became increasingly interested in Japanese culture after he met Ryusaku Tsunoda, an individual whom Keene cites as a mentor and key influence in his writings. Following his graduation, Keene enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

under the

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act, , was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday ...

. A

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

at heart, Keene was not enthusiastic about joining, especially after hearing about the Japanese-led

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. While in the Navy, Keene applied to and was accepted into the in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, and in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

,Cary, Otis and Donald Keene. ''War-wasted Asia: Letters, 1945–46''. Kodansha International, 1975. p13 where he learned Japanese, and he served as an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

and in the Pacific region during World War II. Upon his discharge from the Navy, he returned to Columbia and earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1947. Keene studied for a year at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

before transferring to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

as a Henry Fellow, where he earned a second master's and became a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, from 1948 to 1954, and a University Lecturer from 1949 to 1955. In the interim, Keene earned a PhD from Columbia in 1949, and he also studied at

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

in 1953. While staying at Cambridge, Keene went to meet

, who was best known for his translation work in classical Chinese and Japanese literature. For Keene, Waley's translation of Chinese and Japanese literature was inspiring, even arousing in Keene the thought of becoming a second Waley.

Career

Keene was a

Japanologist , sometimes known as Japanology in Europe, is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, History of Japan, history, ...

who published about 25 books in English on Japanese topics, including both studies of Japanese literature and culture and translations of Japanese classical and modern literature."Lunch with the FT: Donald Keene"
by David Pilling, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', October 28, 2011.
Archive link
Keene also published about 30 books in Japanese, some of which have been translated from English. He was president of the Donald Keene Foundation for Japanese Culture. Keene was awarded the Order of Culture by the Japanese government in 2008, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Japanese

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

in the country, becoming the first non-Japanese to receive the award. Soon after the

, Keene retired from Columbia and moved to Japan with the intention of living out the remainder of his life there. He acquired Japanese citizenship, adopting the legal name . This required him to relinquish his American citizenship, as Japan does not permit

dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

. Keene was well known and respected in Japan, and his relocation there following the earthquake was widely lauded.

Personal life

In 2013 Keene adopted

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 ...

player Seiki Uehara as a son. Keene was not married. Keene died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

in Tokyo on February 24, 2019, aged 96.

Selected works

In an overview of writings by and about Keene,

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

lists over 600 works in over 1,400 publications in 16 languages and over 39,000 library holdings. :''These lists are not finished; you can help Wikipedia by adding to them.''

Works in English

Works in Japanese

Translations

* Chikamatsu Monzaemon, ''The Battles of Coxinga: Chikamatsu's Puppet Play, Its Background and Importance'' (Taylor's Foreign Pr, 1951) * Dazai Osamu, '' No Longer Human'' (New Directions, 1958) * Chikamatsu Monzaemon, ''The Major Plays of Chikamatsu'' (Columbia University Press, June 1, 1961) Includes critical commentary * Yoshida Kenkō, ''Essays in Idleness: The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko'' (Columbia University Press, June 1, 1967) * Mishima Yukio, ''Five Modern Noh Plays'' – Including: Madame de Sade (Tuttle, 1967) * '' Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Puppet Play'' (Columbia University Press, April 1, 1971) * Mishima Yukio, '' After the Banquet'' (Random House Inc, January 1, 1973) * Abe Kobo ''The man who turned into a stick: three related plays'' (Columbia University Press, 1975). Original text published by Tokyo University Press. * Dazai Osamu, '' The Setting Sun'' (Tuttle, 1981) * ??, ''The tale of the shining Princess'' (Metropolitan Museum of Art and Viking Press, 1981) * Abe Kobo, ''Friends: a play'' (Tuttle, 1986) * Abe Kobo, ''Three Plays'' (Columbia University Press, February 1, 1997) * Matsuo Bashō, '' The Narrow Road to Oku'' (Kodansha Amer Inc, April 1, 1997) * Kawabata Yasunari, ''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'' (Kodansha Amer Inc, September 1, 1998) * Yamamoto Yuzo, ''One Hundred Sacks of Rice: A Stage Play'' (Nagaoka City Kome Hyappyo Foundation, 1998) * Miyata Masayuki (illustrations), Donald Keene (essay), H. Mack Horton n trans 源氏物語 – ''

'' (Kodansha International, 2001). Bilingual illustrated text with essay. * Donald Keene & Oda Makoto, ''The Breaking Jewel'', Keene, Donald (trans) (Columbia University Press, March 1, 2003)

Editor

* ''Anthology of Japanese Literature from the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century'' (Grove Pr, March 1, 1960) * ''The Old Woman, the Wife, and the Archer: Three Modern Japanese Short Novels'' (Viking Press, 1961) * ''Anthology of Chinese Literature: From the 14th Century to the Present Day'' (co-editor with Cyril Birch) (Grove Pr, June 1, 1987) * ''Love Songs from the Man'Yoshu'' (Kodansha Amer Inc, August 1, 2000) * ''Modern Japanese Literature from 1868 to the Present Day'' (Grove Pr, January 31, 1994)

Honorary degrees

Keene was awarded various honorary doctorates, from: *

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(1978) * St. Andrews Presbyterian College (

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, 1990) *

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

(

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, 1995) * Columbia University (New York, 1997) *

Tohoku University is a public research university in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. It is colloquially referred to as or . Established in 1907 as the third of the Imperial Universities, after the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University, it initially focused on sc ...

(

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

, 1997) *

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

(Tokyo, 1998) * Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Tokyo, 1999) * Keiwa College ( Niigata, 2000) * Kyoto Sangyo University (

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, 2002) * Kyorin University (Tokyo, 2007) *

Toyo University is a private university with the main Hakusan Station (Tokyo), Hakusan campus in Bunkyō, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The university operates multiple satellite campuses in the Kanto region, including. Asaka, Saitama, Asaka, Kawagoe, Saitama, Kawagoe, ...

(Tokyo, 2011) *

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighbo ...

(Tokyo, 2012) * Nishogakusha University (Kyoto, 2012) *

Doshisha University , also referred to as , is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1875, it is one of Japan's oldest private institutions of higher learning, and has approximately 30,000 students enrolled on four campuses in Kyoto. It is one of Japa ...

(Kyoto, 2013)

Awards and commendations

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, 1961 * Kikuchi Kan Prize (Kikuchi Kan Shō Society for the Advancement of Japanese Culture), 1962. * Van Ameringen Distinguished Book Award, 1967 * Kokusai Shuppan Bunka Shō Taishō, 1969 * Kokusai Shuppan Bunka Shō, 1971 * Yamagata Banto Prize (Yamagata Bantō Shō), 1983 * The Japan Foundation Award (Kokusai Kōryū Kikin Shō), 1983 * Yomiuri Literary Prize (Yomiuri Bungaku Shō), 1985 (Keene was the first non-Japanese to receive this prize, for a book of

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

(''Travellers of a Hundred Ages'') in Japanese) * Award for Excellence (Graduate Faculties Alumni of Columbia University), 1985 * Nihon Bungaku Taishō, 1985 * Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University named in Keene's honour, 1986 * Tōkyō-to Bunka Shō, 1987 * NBCC (The National Book Critics Circle) Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publishing, 1990 * The Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (Fukuoka Ajia Bunka Shō), 1991 * Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) Hōsō Bunka Shō, 1993 * Inoue Yasushi Bunka Shō (Inoue Yasushi Kinen Bunka Zaidan), 1995 * The Distinguished Achievement Award (from The Tokyo American Club) (for the lifetime achievements and unique contribution to international relations), 1995 * Award of Honor (from The Japan Society of Northern California), 1996 *

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

, 1997 * Mainichi Shuppan Bunka Shō (The Mainichi Newspapers), 2002 * The PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, 2003 * Ango Award (from

Niigata, Niigata is a city located in the northern part of Niigata Prefecture (). It is the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, and one of the cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, located in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is ...

), 2010

National honors and decorations

Decorations

( Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, Third Class, 1975) * JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 2Class BAR

( Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Second Class, 1993) * JPN Bunka-kunsho blank BAR

( Order of Culture (''Bunka kunshō''), 2008 "Donald Keene, 7 others win Order of Culture,"
''Yomiuri Shimbun.'' October 29, 2008. )

Honors

* Person of Cultural Merit (''Bunka Kōrōsha'') (Japanese Government), 2002 (Keene was the third non-Japanese person to be designated "an individual of distinguished cultural service" by the Japanese government) * Freedom of (''meiyo kumin'') Kita ward, Tokyo, 2006

Notes

References

External links

* *
Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, Donald 1922 births 2019 deaths Military personnel from New York City Writers from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia University faculty Harvard University alumni Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge American emigrants to Japan American Japanologists Japanese–English translators Scholars of Japanese literature Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Naturalized citizens of Japan Former United States citizens 20th-century American translators Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Culture Recipients of the Fukuoka Prize 20th-century Japanese male writers United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni