Haruhiko Kindaichi

Haruhiko Kindaichi

Haruhiko Kindaichi(金田一春彦, Haruhiko Kindaichi, Japanese: Kindaichi Haruhiko; born April 3, 1913, died May 19, 2004) was a Japanese linguist and a scholar of Japanese linguistics Kokugogaku. He was well known as an editor of Japanese dictionaries, research in Japanese dialects. He took the Doctor of Literature degree (at Tokyo University, in 1962). His medal for merit is 勲三等旭日中綬章 (Kun-San-Tou Kyoku-jitsu Chuu-ju-shou(a kind of Orders of the Rising Sun)). He was also given official commendation such as a person that has performed special services in the field of culture, an honorary citizen of the Tokyo Metropolitan District, etc. His father 金田一京助 (Kyosuke Kindaichi) was also a linguist, who was a professor of Tokyo Imperial University. Haruhiko's eldest son 金田一真澄(Masumi Kindaichi) is a scholar of Russian, a professor of 慶應義塾大学(Keio University). His second son 金田一秀穂(Hideho Kindaichi) is also a linguist, a professor of 杏林大学(Kyorin University).

Life and Works

The eldest son of the noted linguist and expert on the Ainu language Kindaichi Kyōsuke, Kindaichi Haruhiko became known to the broader public with the publication of his book Nihongo in 1957, which became a bestseller for its anecdotal approach to the question of the nature of the Japanese language. He went on, with Susumu Ōno, to become a familiar and honoured public intellectual, who could always be called on to help in discussions on radio and television concerning language issues.

His Early Life

He was born in April 3, 1913, at his mother's home in Morikawa-cho, Hongo-ward, Tokyo City (now Hongo 6-chome, Bunkyo-ward, Tokyo Metropolitan District), as the eldest and only son of Kyosuke Kindaichi and his wife Shizue (née Hayashi). The son resembled the father in his enthusiasm for learning and his mother in her secularism. When their son was born, his father had lost his job as a proofreader of the Sanseido Encyclopaedia, so his family was in dire economic straits.