Shinji Maejima

Shinji Maejima
Born(1903-01-20)January 20, 1903
Fuefuki,Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
DiedJune 3, 1983(1983-06-03) (aged 80)
Tokyo
Other names前嶋 信次
Occupation(s)Orientalist, Scholar of Islamic studies

Shinji Maejima (前嶋 信次, Maejima Shinji, July 20, 1903 – June 3, 1983) was a Japanese orientalist.

Biography

From birth to graduation of university

Shinji Maejima was born at Fuefuki, Yamanashi Prefecture in 1903. His family were doctors. He grew up in his hometown until his secondary education. He entered Tokyo University of Foreign Studies[1] in 1921, and majored French language course. After graduation, he entered University of Tokyo. He studied Pali and Sanskrit in the oriental history seminar. In March of 1928, he graduated with a BA from the University of Tokyo, and left for Taiwan.

As an Orientalist (By the end of the Pacific War)

He became a research assistant of Taihoku Imperial University in April 1928. He moved to the National Tainan First Senior High School in 1932 and lectured history there. But he was appointed a researcher at the East Asiatic Economic Investigation Bureau under The South Manchuria Railway Company, Ltd.,[2] so he left Taiwan in 1940. He worked there until the end of the war. At the same time, he was also a special lecturer at Meiji Gakuin University.

After the War

He worked as a special lecturer at Keio University from 1950. In 1950, he submitted his dissertation "The ebb and flow of Islamic powers in the history of the East-West interactions"(東西交通史上に於けるイスラム勢力の消長)[3] to Keio University and got Doctor of Letters. He was promoted to lecturer in 1954, and became a professor in 1956.

He set out to rebuild the Association for Islamic Studies in Japan with his colleagues, Hisao Matsuda and Jouhei Shimada.[4] He was also one of the main members who established the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan[5] in 1954.

Contribution

He began as a Buddhist scholar, but then turned his attention to Islam, becoming a pioneering Arabist in Japan. He was the first to render the One Thousand and One Nights from the original Arabic into Japanese.[6] He died just before the publication of a supplementary volume to his twelve-volume translation, which contains the stories of Ali Baba and Aladdin. Six more volumes were later produced by Osamu Ikeda (池田 修) to complete the series.

Bibliography

Books

Translation to Japanese

References

  1. ^ It was the Specialized School at that time.
  2. ^ Toshihiko Izutsu was a colleague from the time of this bureau. (In Keio University's days, too).
  3. ^ CiNii(dissertation)
  4. ^ History of us (Association for Islamic Studies in Japan)
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ Wahba, Kassem M.; England, Liz; Taha, Zeinab A. (2017). Handbook for Arabic Language Teaching Professionals in the 21st Century. Vol. 2. Taylor & Francis. p. 21. ISBN 9781317384205.


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