Yoshiro Saeki | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1871-09-15)September 15, 1871 |
| Died | June 26, 1965(1965-06-26) (aged 93) |
| Other names | 佐伯 好郎 |
| Occupation(s) | Language,religion |
Yoshiro Saeki (Japanese:佐伯好郎; September 15, 1871 – June 26, 1965) was a Japanese scholar of religion, law, and the English language. Peter Saeki is hisChristian name. He is known for his theories about theChurch of the East (at the time referred to as "Nestorianism") and Jewish culture in Japan and for his involvement in the planning of the newHiroshima after the atomic bombing.
Saeki was a JapaneseAnglican who became an expert on the influence of the Church of the East, which at one timeexisted in China. He entered Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō (laterWaseda University) in 1890. That year, he was also baptized into theAnglican-Episcopal Church of Japan at St Paul's Church inTsukiji, Tokyo, by Rev. Kumanzo Mikami. He was a close friend ofUchimura Kanzō, aMethodist evangelist, but their relationship turned sour later.[1] He graduated in 1893, travelled to the United States, and then moved to Canada to study languages at theUniversity of Toronto, graduating in 1895. He returned to Tōkyō to teach English at Tōkyō Sermon Gakkō and the Tokyo French School. He later taught at the Tokyo Higher Normal School,独立女学校, the Fifth Higher School (Kumamoto), theTokyo Institute of Technology, and from 1922, atMeiji University. He conducted research in China from 1930 to 1931, and from 1931 to 1940 he was a research associate atTokyo Imperial University, and he received his doctoral degree from that institution in 1941.
In 1904, he turned his research towards Chinese history. 1908 he published a book in which he theorised theHata clan, which arrived from Korea and settled in Japan in the third century, was a Jewish-"Nestorian" tribe.Ben Ami-Shillony states, "Saiki's writings spread the theory about 'the common ancestry of the Japanese and the Jews' (Nichiyu Dōsoron) in Japan, a theory endorsed by some Christian groups."[2] Versions of thisJapanese-Jewish common ancestry theory were taken up by other writers at the time.
In 1916, Saeki publishedThe Nestorian Monument in China, an analysis of theXi'an Stele, a monument describing the Church of the East in China in 781. The book summarised the competing theories about the stele. He also published several other books and articles on Church of the East relics.[3] His theories of religion were influenced by those ofMax Müller.
After World War II, he was appointed mayor ofHatsukaichi inHiroshima Prefecture. During that time, he consulted on the rebuilding of the city after theatomic bombing of August 6, 1945. He advised rebuilding the city as a relatively small and well-planned space.[4]
In 1962 he received an honorary doctorate from Waseda University.
A partial bibliography of his works as listed in theLibrary of Congress would include:
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