Naoji Kimura

Naoji Kimura ( Japanese 木村 直 司 , Kimura Naoji ; born September 11, 1934 in Sapporo , Japan) is a Germanist and one of the most renowned Goethe researchers in the world.

Life

Naoji Kimura began studying German in 1955 in Japan and graduated in Munich in 1963 . He then received his doctorate as Dr. phil and worked from April 1963 as a lecturer at the Sophia University in Tokyo . In 1975 he took over a full professorship in German studies there. In the following years he was very committed to the subject area of ​​German studies and the life and work of Goethe in particular. Until 2006 he worked as a lecturer for Japanese language and culture as well as German at the University of Regensburg .

He is u. a. also co-editor of the Yearbook for International German Studies, Vice President of the Goethe Society in Japan and member of the Board of Trustees of the German-East Asian Science Forum in Baden-Württemberg.

Due to his outstanding efforts in the German language, he has been awarded numerous prizes: Goethe Prize of the Goethe Society in Japan (1977), Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (1992), Goethe Medal of the Goethe Institute in Munich (1996) and the Golden Goethe Medal of the Goethe Society in Weimar (2003).

Main focus of work and research

Naoji Kimura already dealt with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during his dissertation in 1965. This fascination never let go of his life, so that he can be described as one of the most important Goethe connoisseurs worldwide. In numerous publications he brings Johann Wolfgang von Goethe closer to the reader. This includes not only scientific contributions, but also some translations into Japanese, such as the theory of colors , which is considered the standard translation there. In addition to his work as a German studies scholar, he also deals with other cultural-scientific questions, in particular with the mediation between German / European and Japanese / East Asian culture. In this context, he is particularly involved in language teaching (German for Japanese and Japanese for Germans) and seminars that focus on the other culture.