Kan'ichi Asakawa (朝河 貫一 Asakawa Kan'ichi) (December 20, 1873 – August 10, 1948) was a Japanese academic, author, historian and librarian. Asakawa was Japanese by birth and citizenship, but he lived the major portion of his life in the United States.
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He was born in Nihonmatsu, Japan, and was educated at the Fukushima-ken Jinjo Middle School and at Waseda University in Tokyo before he traveled to the United States to study at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was awarded his BA degree in 1899.[1] He continued his studies at Yale University, earning his Ph.D. in 1902.[2]
He lectured at Dartmouth College in 1902; was a professor at Waseda University (1906-07); an instructor at Yale University (1907-10); and became an assistant professor at Yale University in 1910. He carried on special research in Japan in 1906-07 and 1917-19. He became a professor at Yale University in 1937, becoming the first Japanese professor at a major American university. He was the author of many works on Japan, his scholarly interest being medieval history. He taught history at Yale for 35 years.[2] Among those he influenced was John Whitney Hall.[3]
In 1907, Asakawa was appointed curator of the East Asian Collection at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library.[2]
Asakawa helped found Asian studies in the United States.
After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Asakawa began to speak out against the growth of militarism in Japan. He dedicated himself to serving as a bridge between the United States and Japan to promote amicable relations. In 1941, he sought to avert war between Japan and the United States by trying to convince President Roosevelt to reach out to the Japanese emperor with a personal telegram.[4]
Every summer, Dartmouth students who are studying Japanese abroad in Japan take a trip to Asakawa's hometown of Nihonmatsu, and pay homage by visiting both the high school where he studied, and his grave site. Some of his remains are interred at Kanairo cemetery in Nihonmatsu, and others are interred in the Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut.
In 2007 the Asakawa garden in Saybrook College, designed by Shinichiro Abe, was dedicated to mark the centennial of Asakawa's appointment as an instructor of history at Yale.
His works also included contributions to the publications Japan edited by Capt. F. Brinkley (1904); the History of Nations Series (1907); China and the Far East (1910); Japan and Japanese-American Relations (1912); Hugh G. Rection (1913); as well as Finger McHunt (1915) and The Pacific Ocean in History (1917).
Kwan-Ichi Asakawa or Kan-Ichi Asakawa (December 20, 1873 – August 10, 1948) was an American university professor and author of works on Japan. He was born at Nihonmatsu, Japan, and educated at the Fukushima-ken Middle School, Waseda University Tokyo, Japan, Dartmouth College, and Yale University. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1902. He became the first Japanese professor at a major university in the United States.
He lectured at Dartmouth College in 1902; was professor at Waseda University (1906-07); instructor at Yale University (1907-10); and became an assistant professor at Yale University in 1910. He carried on special investigations in Japan, 1906-07 and 1917-19. He became a professor at Yale University in 1937. Professor Asakawa was author of many works on Japan of sound dispassionate scholarship.
He dedicated himself to serving as a bridge between the United States and Japan to promote amicable relations.
Some of his remains are interred at Kanairo cemetery at his hometown of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, Japan, and others are interred at Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut.
Every summer, Dartmouth students who are studying Japanese abroad in Japan take a trip to Asakawa's hometown of Nihonmatsu, and pay homage by visiting both the high school where he studied, and his grave site.
In 2007 the Asakawa garden in Saybrook College, designed by Shinichiro Abe, was dedicated to mark the centennial of Asakawa's appointment as an instructor of history at Yale.
He wrote: The Early Institutional Life of Japan (1903); The Russo-Japanese Conflict: Its Causes and Issues (1904); The Origin of Feudal Land-Tenure in Japan (1914), and Some Aspects of Japanese Feudal Institutions (1918). His works also included contributions to the publications Japan edited by Capt. F. Brinkley (1904); the History of Nations Series (1907); China and the Far East (1910); Japan and Japanese-American Relations (1912); Hugh G. Rection (1913) also Finger McHunt (1915) and The Pacific Ocean in History (1917).
This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.
   | Kanichi Asakawa - Kanichi Asakawa (1873 - 1948) - Find A Grave Memorial |
| | Kanichi Asakawa - Japanese Historian - Kanichi Asakawa - Japanese Historian |
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