Peter K. Kapitza

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Peter K. Kapitza (* 1942 ) is a German specialist in German studies, Japan researcher and publisher.

Life

Kapitza completed his German studies in 1968 with a doctorate on the connection between romantic poetry theory and contemporary chemistry. This was followed by several years as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo . During this time, Japanese culture and history also flowed into his scientific interests. Kapitza's habilitation thesis was published in 1981. Two years later he founded the Iudicium Verlag in Munich.

In addition to printing and editing numerous publications on Japan and East Asia as well as publications in the field of German as a Foreign Language (DaF) and German studies , Kapitza also made a name for himself through his own research into the development of the European image of Japan. His work on the reception of Engelbert Kaempfer, a traveler to Japan, in the Age of Enlightenment , which initiated a paradigm shift in the relevant research, proved to be particularly influential .

The two-volume monumental work "Japan in Europe" (1990) proved to be equally influential. In the form of expertly commented excerpts (450 texts, plus 600 photo documents), Kapitza showed his readers for the first time the abundance of literature that European travelers, missionaries, merchants, linguists, writers etc. from Marco Polo to Wilhelm von Humboldt about the Far Eastern island kingdom had written.

Honors

In 2004, Kapitza received the JaDe Prize from the JaDe Foundation in Cologne in recognition of his contribution to Japanological research and as head of the Iudicium Verlag. In autumn 2017 he received the Order of the Rising Sun on Ribbon (golden rays) for his contribution to the presentation of Japanese culture and for promoting understanding of Japan in Germany. In October 2019 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon for his commitment to promoting intercultural understanding between Japan and Germany.

Fonts

  • Peter Kapitza: The early romantic theory of the mixture - about the connection between romantic poetry theory and contemporary chemistry. Hueber, 1968 (Volume 4 of the Munich German Studies. Ed. By W. Betz and H. Kunisch).
  • Peter Kapitza: Engelbert Kaempfer and the European Enlightenment. On the history of the impact of his Japanese work in the 18th century. In: Commentary on "Engelbert Kaempfer: History and Description of Japan". 4 volumes in cassette. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer, 1980.
  • Peter K. Kapitza: A civil war in the learned world - on the history of the "Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes" in Germany. Fink, Nuremberg, 1981. (Habilitation thesis)
  • Peter Kapitza: Japan in Europe - Texts and image documents on European knowledge of Japan from Marco Polo to Wilhelm von Humboldt. Iudicium Verlag, Munich, 1990 (volume 1: 957 pages; volume: 1024 pages, accompanying volume: 95 pages). ISBN 3-89129-990-7
  • Ditto, CD-ROM. Iudicium Verlag, Munich, 2008. ISBN 978-3-89129-992-0
  • Peter Kapitza: Engelbert Kaempfer and the European Enlightenment - the memory of the Lemgo traveler on the occasion of his 350th birthday on September 16, 2001. Iudicium Verlag, Munich, 2001. ISBN 978-3-89129-991-3

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peetaa Kapittsaa-san ni kansha wo komete - Peter Kapitza, our friend, our teacher. Dōgakusha, Tokyo, 2016
  2. ↑ Kapitza (1980), reprint 2001
  3. ↑ JaDe Foundation Archive
  4. ↑ Press release of the Japanese embassy
  5. ↑ Press release from the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice
personal data
SURNAME Kapitza, Peter K.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES カ ピ ッ ツ ァ, ペ ー タ ー (Japanese transliteration)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philologist, Japanese researcher and publisher
DATE OF BIRTH 1942