P.C.Chamberlain

In the Meiji Era (1868-1912) there were three great Britons of Japanology. One of them was Pasil Hall Chamberlain. He taught the Japanese language and studied the Ainu language spoken by a people native to the Kurile Islands, to Sakhalin and to Hokkaido and the language spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The relation between Japan and him dates back to his grand father, Navy captain who wrote "Account of a voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Korea,etc." in 1818. Therefore it seems that he was destined to come to Asia.

P.H.Chamberlain was born in Portsmouth, England. While his mother was pregnant, she was studying both Greek and Latin what is called she was practicing antenatal training. He was good at studying foreign languages when he was young. His mother died when he was at the age of eight. Because of his mother's death he went to France to be in charge of his grandmother. He studied at school in France from eight to sixteen. He lived in Spain temporarily for a year. He also traveled throughout Europe and visited many churches and museums. After that he returned home and worked for bank for a short time. He gave up going on to university because of his poor health. His doctor advised him to go abroad for a change of air on ship. He decided to come to the Far East.

Chamberlain arrived in Yokohama at the age of twenty -three in 1873. At first he began to study not Japanese colloquial but verse.

His Japanese teacher was samurai, who wore two swords all the time.

In 1874 he taught cadets of the Navy Academy British gentleman-ship by using the Life of Nelson, which was of great benefit to form the spirit of the Japanese Navy.

Nelson has been said to be "the embodiment of sea power ". Young students were taught how important respect, order, obedience, honesty, and patience were by reading the admiral's autobiography. In 1886 Arinori Mori recommended Chamberlain to be professor of the Japanese language of Tokyo University, where Chamberlain taught Kazutoshi Ueda, Yoshisaburo Okakura, Nobutsuna Sasaki and Yaichi Haga who greatly contributed to raise the standard of our academic fields.

In 1886 he stayed at Ainu scholar, John Bachelar's home to study for a month. In 1887 Chamberlain published "Japan viewed from Ainu study". In 1890 Tokyo University honored the first professor emeritus with him after teaching for four years. At that year he published "Things Japanese" including about 200 articles on Japan and Japanese people and next year "The guide of Japan". In 1893 he went to the Ryukyu Islands to study Ryukyu language. He compiled Essay in Aid of a Grammar and Dictionary of the Luchuan language in 1895.

Chamberlain could speak French, German and Japanese as well as English. He went back to Europe six times during his forty years' stay in Japan but always came back to Japan.

At last, however, he made up his mind to retire and live at a quiet place near the Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The last day when Chamberlain was leaving Japan in 1911, he said to Nobutuna Sasaki, " A beautiful country. I must say good bye to this beautiful country forever."

Chamberlain continued to have a passion for learning after he moved to Geneva and attended lectures on history and literature at college once a week until his death. The man who met Chamberlain last was Sanki Ichikawa, late professor at Tokyo University.

Chamberlain's last work was "Encore est vive la souris", which was published in 1933. He taught Japanese people "Japan "and a method to study Japanese scientifically. He respected Norinaga Motoori, scholar of Japanese, doctor. Kunio Yanagida, folklorist greatly praised Chamberlain's achievements and dedicated his well-known book "Kainan Syouki" to Chamberlain.

He died at a quiet place near the Lake Geneva, Switzerland at the age of 85 in 1935.

Chamberlain's former students held memorial service for him after death of the great scholar. At that time George SanSom , British historian said " I am proud of Chamberlain and respect him."

E-mail matu-emk@mse.biglobe.ne.jp