Sakamoto Taro

Sakamoto Tarō ( Japanese 坂 本 太郎 ; born October 7, 1901 in Hamamatsu ( Shizuoka Prefecture ); died February 16, 1987 ) was a Japanese historian.

life and work

Sakamoto Tarō studied from 1923 to 1929 at the Department of History at Tōkyō University . In 1926 he became an assistant professor there, in 1945 a professor, and in 1951 at the same time director of the history edition "Taishika hensanjo" (大 史料 編纂 所). After his retirement in 1957 he was a professor at Kokugakuin University until 1968 . He was also the chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Preservation of Cultural Property (文化 財 保護 審議 会, Bunkazai hogo shingikai), President of the Society for Historical Studies (史学 会 理事長) and the Society for Japanese History (日本 歴 史学 会会長).

Sakamoto is known for his national studies of ancient Japanese history through precise studies of old reports, especially from the 8th and 9th centuries, called the " Rikkokushi " (立国 史) and the legal codifications of the 7th and 8th centuries " Ritsuryō " (律令). In addition to his editing of the “Shintei zōho kokushi taikei” (新 訂 增補 ・ 國史 大 er), he wrote like works “Nihon kodaishi no kiso kenkyū” (日本 古代史 の 基礎 的 研究; 2 volumes; 1964), “Special features of Japanese history “(日本 歴 史 の 特性, Nihon rekishi no tokusei; 1967) and“ Shōtoku Taishi ”(聖 徳 太子) 1979. A number of his works have been translated into English.

In 1972 Sakamoto was honored as a person with special cultural merits , in 1982 he was awarded the Order of Culture .

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Sakamoto Tarō . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1299.

Web links

• Biography Sakamoto Tarō (Kotobank)

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