was professor emeritus at

Osaka University The , abbreviated as UOsaka or , is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university in Osaka, Japan. The university traces its roots back to Edo period, Edo-era institutions Tekijuku (1838) and Kaitokudō, Kaitokudo (1724), ...

and Kōnan Women's University, and a noted scholar 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 ...

and especially the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' poetry.犬養万葉記念館〈Inukai Manyo Memorial Hall〉/ Asuka mura Public office
He earned his bachelor's degree in Japanese literature from

the University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

in 1932, as well as its Ph.D. in 1962. He received the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from the Japanese Government in 1978. He was qualified as a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

in 1987. Upon his death, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, was posthumously conferred on him. After graduating from the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo, Inukai Takashi taught at Taipei High School, where he served as the homeroom teacher for students such as Koo Kuan-min( 辜寬敏) and Takeuchi Akihiro( 竹內昭太郎). During his time at Taipei High School (officially known as Taiwan Governor-General's Taipei Senior High School( 臺灣總督府臺北高等學校)), Inukai captivated many students with his unique "Inukai melody" while reciting the *Man'yōshū* ( 萬葉集). Students like Huang Bo-chao( 黃伯超, Koo Kuan-min( 辜寬敏), and Wu Jiantang(吳建堂) (pen name: 孤蓬萬里) were so enchanted by it that they continued to recite *Man'yōshū* ( 萬葉集) using the "Inukai melody" (犬養節) even into their old age (around 2023). In addition, he mentored future luminaries such as Dr. Wu Jiantang(吳建堂) (pen name: 孤蓬萬里), who later became a renowned physician. In 1996, Dr. Wu received the prestigious Kikuchi Kan Prize in Japan for his book *Taiwan Man'yōshū*. When he was a professor of Osaka University, he walked around with his students the places where each verse of the ''Man'yōshū'' was composed, in order to help them understand the essences of the ''Man'yōshū'' more deeply. His idea impressed the students very much, and they went for more than 250 trips all over the country for almost 50 years, until he died in 1998. The total number of participants of those ''Osaka University Man'yo trips'' reached more than 40,000. In addition to teaching his students, he helped the people be more familiar with the ''Man'yōshū''. Countless of people was attracted by the ''Man'yōshū'' thanks to his activities. He gave a lecture on ''Man'yōshū'' to Emperor Shōwa on the top of a hill in

Asuka, Nara is a village located in Takaichi District, Nara Prefecture, Japan. As of April 1, 2017, the village has an estimated population of 5,681, with 2,170 households, and a population density of . The total area is . Asuka is the land where ancient ...

, on December 4, 1979.

References

External links

犬養孝〈Takashi Inukai〉｜NHK Archives

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inukai, Takashi 1907 births 1998 deaths Scholars of Japanese literature Academic staff of Osaka University University of Tokyo alumni Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class