Haneda Tōru

Haneda Tōru

Haneda Tōru ( Japanese 羽 田 亨 ; born May 15, 1882 in Mineyama (峰山 町), Kyoto Prefecture ; died April 13, 1955 ) was a Japanese historian and specialist in East Asian history.

Live and act

Haneda Tōru was born to the Yoshimura family in Kyoto Prefecture. At the age of 16 he was adopted by the Haneda family. He studied East Asian history at Tōkyō University under Shiratori Kurakichi (白鳥 庫 吉; 1865-1942). After graduation in 1907, he continued his education in the graduate school of the University of Kyoto . In 1909 he became a lecturer there and in 1913 an assistant professor. A stay in France followed for further training. Together with the local scholar of East Asian history, Paul Pelliot , he examined documents that had been found in the Chinese Mogao grottoes . After returning to Japan, he became a professor and was selected as a member of the Academy and President of Kyoto University. From 1936 to 1938 he was director of the university library, then president of the university until 1945. When he retired in 1946, Haneda was honored as "Meiyo Kyōju".

After his retirement, Haneda worked as director of the "Institute for East Asian Culture" (東方 文化 研究所, Tōhō bunka kenkyūjo) of the university and as chairman of the "Society for East Asian Studies" (東方 学会; Tōhōgaku-kai). He dealt with the history of Mongolia and with the Uyghurs during the Tang Dynasty . This was followed by occupation with the western regions of Central Asia. For the study of "areas outside the home area" (塞外; Saigai) he advocated a methodology that should begin with the acquisition of the language of the local population, thereby establishing a system of West Asian history that went beyond the conventional level.

In 1953 Haneda was honored as a person with special cultural merits and awarded the Order of Culture .

His books include “Introduction to the History of West Asian Civilization” (西域 文明 史 概論, Seiiki bummei-shi gairon), “West Asian Cultural History” (西域 文化史, Seiiki bunka-shi). His various writings are in the "Collection of historical writings of Dr. Haneda “(羽 田博士 史学 論文集, Haneda Hakase sigaku ronbun-shū) summarized.

Remarks

1. ↑ The management of the university library was a highly endowed honorary position.
2. ↑ Meiyo Kyōju (名誉 教授) is occasionally rendered in German as "Professor emeritus". But in contrast to this title, which is automatically used on retirement, this is a special award only occasionally granted in Japan.

Web links

• Biography Haneda Toru in the Kotobank, Japanese.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Haneda is the family name, Tōru the first name.