Jump to content

Donald Keene

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald Keene
Junior Third Rank
キーン ドナルド
Keene in 2011
Born(1922-06-18)June 18, 1922
New York City, U.S
DiedFebruary 24, 2019(2019-02-24) (aged 96)
Tokyo, Japan
Citizenship
  • United States (1922–2012)
  • Japan (2012–2019)
Alma mater
OccupationsScholar, historian, professor, writer, linguist
Organizations
Children1 (adopted)
Awards

Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer, and translator of Japanese literature.[1] He was Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years. Soon after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, he retired from Columbia, moved to Japan permanently, and acquired citizenship under the name Kīn Donarudo (キーン ドナルド) which is essentially his birth name in the Japanese name order.[2] This was also his poetic pen name (雅号, gagō) and occasional nickname, spelled in the ateji form 鬼怒鳴門.[3][a]

Early life

[edit]

Donald Lawrence Keene was born in the Flatbush neighborhood of New York City's Brooklyn borough on June 18, 1922. His father was an international trade businessman while his mother stayed at home to raise Keene and his elder sister. In July 1931, amid the economic crisis of the Great Depression, a nine-year-old Keene begged his father to allow him to accompany him on a business trip to Europe, to which his father agreed. He and his father boarded a United States Lines ship sailing to Normandy, disembarking at Cherbourg before they continued on to Paris by train. Keene met a girl around his age in Paris, but the language barrier made it difficult to talk with her, so he proceeded to sing Frère Jacques to her as it was the only thing he knew in French.[4] These experiences instilled in him a great sense of curiosity for cultures abroad, as well as learning languages. In 1933, his elder sister died of an illness and his parents divorced.

Education and military service

[edit]

Keene lived with his mother and attended James Madison High School, showing great academic achievement.[5] He then enrolled at Columbia University, where he received a bachelor's degree 1942, studying under Mark Van Doren, Moses Hadas, Lionel Trilling, and Jacques Barzun. While there, he was obsessed with Arthur Waley's English translation of The Tale of Genji, and he became increasingly interested in Japanese culture after he met Ryūsaku Tsunoda, who became a mentor and key influence on his writings.[6][7] Following his graduation, Keene enlisted in the United States Navy under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. A self-described pacifist, he was not enthusiastic about joining, especially after hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor.[8]

While in the Navy, Keene successfully applied to the U.S. Navy Japanese Language School [ja] in Boulder, Colorado, and in Berkeley, California,[9] where he learned Japanese. He served as an intelligence officer and in the Pacific region during World War II,[2][9] where he translated for Japanese prisoners, some of whom remained his friends long after the war finished; he later recalled finding poignant diaries of dead Japanese soldiers, stained with their blood, and having his attempts to deliver the diaries to the soldiers' families thwarted by the Navy.[10] Upon his discharge from the Navy, he returned to Columbia and earned a master's degree in 1947. He studied for a year at Harvard University before transferring to Cambridge University in England on the Henry Fellowship, where he earned a second master's degree and became a Fellow of Cambridge's Corpus Christi College from 1948 to 1954, as well as a lecturer from 1949 to 1955.[11] In the interim, he earned a PhD from Columbia in 1949 and studied at Kyoto University in 1953.[12] While staying at Cambridge, he met his idol Waley, who had sparked his initial interest in Asian culture.[13]

Career

[edit]

Keene went on to become a Japanologist who published about 25 English-language books on Japanese topics, including studies of Japanese literature and culture and translations of classical and modern Japanese literature.[14] He also published about 30 books in Japanese, some of which have been translated from English. He was president of the Donald Keene Foundation for Japanese Culture.

Personal life

[edit]

In 2008, Emperor Akihito awarded Keene the Order of Culture, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Japanese Imperial House; as of 2025, he remains the only non-Japanese person to receive the award.[15]

In January 2011, at the age of 87, Keene was taken to a Japanese hospital after becoming gravely ill; concerned that he was dying, he instead asked himself what he would do if he recovered, and quickly realized that he would rather live out the rest of his life in Japan than return to the U.S.[14] The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan two months later; Keene soon announced that he would retire from Columbia University, leave his home in Morningside Heights, and settle in Japan.[10][14] He was already known and respected in Japan by this point,[16] and his relocation following the earthquake was universally welcomed.[10][14]

According to the Financial Times, which referred to Keene as a legendary figure in Japan, "The announcement made headline news. Japanese spoke, many with tears in their eyes, of the courage he had given them in their hour of need."[14] He told The New York Times, "Many foreigners are leaving Japan. People have asked me why I should be choosing this moment to spend the rest of my life in Japan. [...] I decided to move there to voluntarily and gladly join the people in time of disaster, because I have more friends there than I have here, and most of my awards have come there. I want to show my appreciation to the Japanese people, and I could think of no other way than to say I'd be with them."[10]

Upon settling in Japan, Keene adopted the legal name Kīn Donarudo (キーン ドナルド) and acquired Japanese citizenship, which required him to relinquish his American citizenship as Japan does not permit multiple citizenship.[2] Having long maintained a home in a suburb of Tokyo, he made it his primary home upon relocating.[14] He never married and had no biological children. In 2012, at the age of 89, he utilized Japan's adult adoption process to adopt professional shamisen player Seiki Uehara as his son and heir.[17] Uehara was 63 years old at the time.[18]

Death

[edit]

Keene died of cardiac arrest in Tokyo at the age of 96 on February 24, 2019.[19][20]

Selected works

[edit]

In an overview of writings by and about Keene, OCLC/WorldCat lists over 600 works in over 1,400 publications in 16 languages and over 39,000 library holdings.[21]

Works in English

[edit]
Year Title Publisher Notes
1951 The Battles of Coxinga: Chikamatsu's Puppet Play, Its Background and Importance Taylor's Foreign Press
1952 The Japanese Discovery of Europe: Honda Toshiaki and Other Discoverers, 1720–1952 Routledge and K. Paul Japanese trans.: 日本人の西洋発見 (錦正社, 1957), trans. 藤田豊 & 大沼雅彦; nihonjin no seiyou hakken; 日本人の西洋発見 (中公叢書, 1968), trans. 芳賀徹 [?trans of 2nd ed]
1955 Japanese Literature: An Introduction for Western Readers Grove Press
1956 Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology Grove Press
1959 Living Japan Doubleday Japanese trans.: 生きている日本 (朝日出版社, 1973), trans. 江藤淳 & 足立康; ikiteiru nihon; Revised edition: 果てしなく美しい日本 (講談社学術文庫, 2002), trans. 足立康改 [?mistake. ?Separate work]
1961 Major Plays of Chikamatsu Columbia University Press
1961 Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu Columbia University Press
1965 Bunraku: The Art of the Japanese Puppet Theatre Kodansha International With Kaneko Hiroshi (photography) & Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (introduction); Japanese trans.: 文楽 (講談社, 1966), trans. 吉田健一; bunraku
1969 The Japanese Discovery of Europe, 1720–1830 Stanford University Press Revised/2nd edition
1969 The Manyōshū Columbia University Press
1970 Twenty Plays of the Noh Theatre Columbia University Press
1975 War-Wasted Asia: Letters, 1945–46 Kodansha International Japanese trans.: 昨日の戦地から (中央公論新社, 2006), trans. 松宮史朗; kinou no senchi kara
1976 World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600–1867 Henry Holt & Co Second book in "A History of Japanese Literature" series; Japanese trans.: 日本文学史 近世篇, 2 vols. (中央公論社, 1976–77), trans. 徳岡孝夫; nihon bungakushi kinseihen
1978 Landscapes and Portraits: Appreciations of Japanese Culture Kodansha International
1978/79 Some Japanese Portraits Kodansha America Inc Japanese trans.: 日本文学散歩 (朝日選書, 1975), trans. 篠田一士; nihon bungaku sanpo
1979 Meeting with Japan 学生社 Japanese trans.: 日本との出会い (中央公論社, 1972), trans. 篠田一士; nihon tono deai
1981 Travels in Japan Gakuseisha Japanese trans.: 日本細見 (中央公論社, 1980), trans. 中矢一義; nihonsaiken
1984 Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era: Fiction Holt Rinehart & Winston Third book in "A History of Japanese Literature" series
1984 Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature in the Modern Era: Poetry, Drama, Criticism Holt Rinehart & Winston Fourth book in "A History of Japanese Literature" series
1987 Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature in the Modern Era Henry Holt & Co
1988 The Pleasures of Japanese Literature Columbia University Press ISBN 0-231-06736-4; Japanese trans.: 古典の愉しみ (JICC, 1992; 宝島社, 2000)
1989 Introducing Kyoto Kodansha America Inc With Herbert E. Plutschow
1989 Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese As Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries Diane Publishing Co Japanese trans.: 百代の過客 日記にみる日本人 (朝日選書, 1984 and 1988), trans. 金関寿夫; hyakudai no kakaku: nikkini miru nihonjin; Later published by Asahi, 2011 and 2012 [?trans of revised edition]
1989 Modern Japanese Novels and the West Umi Research Press
1990 No and Bunraku: Two Forms of Japanese Theatre Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 能・文楽・歌舞伎 (講談社, 2001), trans. 吉田健一 & 松宮史朗; noh, bunraku, kabuki
1991 Appreciations of Japanese Culture Kodansha America Inc
1991 The Colors of Poetry: Essays in Classic Japanese Verse Katydid Books With Ooka Makoto
1992 Travelers of a Hundred Ages Henry Holt & Co
1993 Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century Henry Holt & Co First book in "A History of Japanese Literature" series
1994 On Familiar Terms: A Journey Across Cultures Kodansha America Inc Reworking of 1990–1992 Japanese newspaper column; Japanese trans.: このひとすじにつながりて (朝日選書, 1993), trans. 金関寿夫; kono hitosuji ni tsunagarite
1995 Modern Japanese Diaries: The Japanese at Home and Abroad as Revealed Through Their Diaries Henry Holt & Co Later published by Columbia University Press, 1999 [?revised edition]; Japanese edition published first
1996 The Blue-Eyed Tarokaja: A Donald Keene Anthology Columbia University Press Editor: J. Thomas Rimer; Japanese trans.: 碧い眼の太郎冠者; aoi me no taroukaja
1996 On Familiar Terms: To Japan and Back, a Lifetime Across Cultures Kodansha America Inc
1999 もう一つの母国、日本へ – Living in Two Countries Kodansha International English and Japanese bilingual text, trans. 塩谷紘
2001 Japan at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Woodblock Prints from the Meiji Era, 1868–1912 Museum of Fine Arts Boston With Anne Nishimura & Frederic A. Sharf
2001 Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600 Columbia University Press Compiled by Donald Keene, Wm. Theodore De Bary, George Tanabe and Paul Varley
2002 Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912 Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 明治天皇 (新潮社, 2001), trans. 角地幸男; meiji tennou; Also published in 4 volumes, 2007
2002 Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne Van Biema Collection University of Washington Press With Lee Bruschke-Johnson & Ann Yonemura
2002 Five Modern Japanese Novelists Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 思い出の作家たち―谷崎・川端・三島・安部・司馬 (新潮社, 2005), trans. 松宮史朗; omoide no sakkatachi: Tanizaki, Kawabata, Mishima, Abe, Shiba
2003 Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 足利義政と銀閣寺 (中央公論新社, 2008), trans. 角地幸男; Yoshimasa to ginkakuji
2006 Frog in the Well: Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan 1793–1841 Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 渡辺崋山 (新潮社, 2007), trans. 角地幸男; Watanabe Kazan
2008 Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 私と20世紀のクロニカル (中央公論新社, 2007), trans. 角地幸男; watashi to 20 seiki no kuronikaru; Later published as ドナルド・キーン自伝 (中公公論新社, 2011); Spanish trans.: Un Occidental En Japon (Nocturna Ediciones, 2011), trans. José Pazó Espinosa
2010 So Lovely a Country Will Never Perish: Wartime Diaries of Japanese Writers Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 日本人の戦争 作家の日記を読む (文藝春秋, 2009), trans. 角地幸男; nihonjin no sensou: sakka no nikki wo yomu
2013 The Winter Sun Shines In: A Life of Masaoka Shiki Columbia University Press Japanese trans.: 正岡子規 (新潮社, 2012), trans. 角地幸男; Masaoka Shiki
2016 The First Modern Japanese: The Life of Ishikawa Takuboku Columbia University Press

Works in Japanese

[edit]
Year Japanese title Romanized title Publisher Notes
1957–1975 ドナルド・キーンの日本文学散歩 Donald Kīn no Nihonbungaku Sanpo 週刊朝日 Column in Asahi Weekly
1963 日本の文学 Nihon no Bungaku 筑摩書房 Trans. 吉田健一
1972 日本の作家 Nihon no Sakka 中央公論社
1972 日本人と日本文化 司馬遼太郎との対談 Nihonjin to Nihonbunka: Shiba Ryōtarō to no Taidan 中公新書 In conversation with Ryotaro Shiba; republished 1992 as 世界のなかの日本
1973 反劇的人間 Hangekiteki Ningen 中公新書 In conversation with Kobo Abe
1973 東と西のはざまで 大岡昇平と対談 Higashi to Nishi no Hazama de 朝日出版社 In conversation with Ooka Shouhei
1973 悼友紀行 三島由紀夫の作品風土 中央公論社 With Tokuoka Takao
1977 ドナルド・キーンの音盤風刺花伝 音楽之友社 Later published as わたしの好きなレコード
1977 日本文学を読む Nihonbungaku wo Yomu 新潮選書
1979 日本の魅力 対談集 Nihon no Miryoku 中央公論社 Collection of conversations
1979 日本を理解するまで Nihon wo Rikai suru Made 新潮社
1979 日本文学のなかへ Nihonbungaku no Naka e 文藝春秋
1980 音楽の出会いとよろこび Ongaku no Deai to Yorokobi 音楽之友社 Trans. 中矢一義; republished 中央公論社 1992
1981 ついさきの歌声 Tsuisaki no Utagoe 中央公論社 Trans. 中矢一義
1981 私の日本文学逍遥 Watashi no Nihonbungaku Shōyō 新潮社
1983 日本人の質問 Nihonjin no Shitsumon 朝日選書
1983–1984 百代の過客 日記にみる日本人 Hyakudai no Kakaku: Nikki ni Miru Nihonjin Asahi Evening News Column
1984–1997 日本文学史 Nihonbungakushi 中央公論社 Translation of "History of Japanese Literature" series; various volumes and editions
1986 少し耳の痛くなる話 Sukoshi Mimi no Itakunaru Hanashi 新潮社
1987 二つの母国に生きて Futatsu no Bokoku ni Ikite Asahi Trans. 塩谷紘
1990 古典を楽しむ 私の日本文学 Koten wo Tanoshimu: Watashi no Nihonbungaku 朝日選書
1990 日本人の美意識 Nihonjin no Biishiki 中央公論
1990–1992 このひとすじにつながりて Kono Hitosuji ni Tsunagarite Asahi Evening News Column
1992 声の残り 私の文壇交遊録 Koe no Nokori: Watashi no Bundan Kōyūroku Asahi
1998 三島由紀夫未発表書簡 ドナルド・キーン氏宛の97通 Mishima Yukio Mihappyō Shokan 中央公論社 Editor; 97 letters from Yukio Mishima
2000 日本語の美 Nihongo no Bi 中公文庫
2003 明治天皇を語る Meiji Tennō wo Kataru 新潮新書 Based on lecture series
2003 日本文学は世界のかけ橋 Nihonbungaku wa Sekai no Kakebashi たちばな出版
2004 同時代を生きて 忘れえぬ人びと Dōjidai wo Ikite Wasureenu Hitobito 岩波書店 With Jakucho Setouchi & Shunsuke Tsurumi
2005 私の大事な場所 Watashi no Daiji na Basho 中央公論新社 Republished 2010
2011 戦場のエロイカ・シンフォニー 私が体験した日米戦 Senjō no Eroica Shinfonī: Watashi ga Keiken shita Nichibei-sen 藤原書店 With Koike Masayuki
2011–2020 ドナルド・キーン著作集(全15巻・別巻) Donald Kīn Chosakushū (Zen-15kan) 新潮社 Complete works (15 volumes)
2012 日本を、信じる Nihon wo, Shinjiru 中央公論新社 With Setouchi Jakuchou
2013 私が日本人になった理由―日本語に魅せられて Watashi ga Nihonjin ni Natta Riyū—Nihongo ni Miserarete PHP研究所

Translations

[edit]
Year Original author Title Publisher Notes
1951 Chikamatsu Monzaemon The Battles of Coxinga: Chikamatsu's Puppet Play, Its Background and Importance Taylor's Foreign Press
1958 Dazai Osamu No Longer Human New Directions
1961 Chikamatsu Monzaemon The Major Plays of Chikamatsu Columbia University Press Includes critical commentary
1967 Yoshida Kenkō Essays in Idleness: The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko Columbia University Press
1967 Mishima Yukio Five Modern Noh Plays Tuttle Including Madame de Sade
1971 Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Puppet Play Columbia University Press
1973 Mishima Yukio After the Banquet Random House Inc
1975 Abe Kobo The Man Who Turned into a Stick: Three Related Plays Columbia University Press Original text published by Tokyo University Press
1981 Dazai Osamu The Setting Sun Tuttle
1981 The Tale of the Shining Princess Metropolitan Museum of Art and Viking Press
1986 Abe Kobo Friends: A Play Tuttle
1997 Abe Kobo Three Plays Columbia University Press
1997 Matsuo Bashō The Narrow Road to Oku Kodansha America Inc
1998 Kawabata Yasunari The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter Kodansha America Inc
1998 Yamamoto Yuzo One Hundred Sacks of Rice: A Stage Play Nagaoka City Kome Hyappyo Foundation
2001 The Tale of Genji Kodansha International Bilingual illustrated text with essay; with Miyata Masayuki (illustrations) & H. Mack Horton
2003 Oda Makoto The Breaking Jewel Columbia University Press

Editor

[edit]
Year Title Publisher Notes
1960 Anthology of Japanese Literature from the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century Grove Press
1961 The Old Woman, the Wife, and the Archer: Three Modern Japanese Short Novels Viking Press
1987 Anthology of Chinese Literature: From the 14th Century to the Present Day Grove Press Co-editor with Cyril Birch
1994 Modern Japanese Literature from 1868 to the Present Day Grove Press
2000 Love Songs from the Man'Yoshu Kodansha America Inc

Honorary degrees

[edit]

Keene was awarded various honorary doctorates, from:

Awards and commendations

[edit]
  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 1961
  • Kikuchi Kan Prize (Kikuchi Kan Shō Society for the Advancement of Japanese Culture), 1962.[22]
  • Van Ameringen Distinguished Book Award, 1967
  • Kokusai Shuppan Bunka Shō Taishō, 1969
  • Kokusai Shuppan Bunka Shō, 1971
  • Yamagata Banto Prize (Yamagata Bantō Shō), 1983
  • The Japan Foundation Award (Kokusai Kōryū Kikin Shō), 1983
  • Yomiuri Literary Prize (Yomiuri Bungaku Shō), 1985 (Keene was the first non-Japanese to receive this prize, for a book of literary criticism (Travellers of a Hundred Ages) in Japanese)
  • Award for Excellence (Graduate Faculties Alumni of Columbia University), 1985
  • Nihon Bungaku Taishō, 1985
  • Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University named in Keene's honour, 1986
  • Tōkyō-to Bunka Shō, 1987
  • NBCC (The National Book Critics Circle) Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publishing, 1990
  • The Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (Fukuoka Ajia Bunka Shō), 1991
  • Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) Hōsō Bunka Shō, 1993
  • Inoue Yasushi Bunka Shō (Inoue Yasushi Kinen Bunka Zaidan), 1995
  • The Distinguished Achievement Award (from The Tokyo American Club) (for the lifetime achievements and unique contribution to international relations), 1995
  • Award of Honor (from The Japan Society of Northern California), 1996
  • Asahi Prize, 1997
  • Mainichi Shuppan Bunka Shō (The Mainichi Newspapers), 2002
  • The PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, 2003
  • Ango Award (from Niigata, Niigata), 2010

National honors and decorations

[edit]

Decorations

[edit]

Honors

[edit]
  • Person of Cultural Merit (Bunka Kōrōsha) (Japanese Government), 2002 (Keene was the third non-Japanese person to be designated "an individual of distinguished cultural service" by the Japanese government)
  • Freedom of (meiyo kumin) Kita ward, Tokyo, 2006

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Glossed as 鬼怒(キーン・ド)鳴門(ナルド) or kīn do narudo; 鬼怒 is usually pronounced kinu, as in Kinugawa River, and 鳴門 as naruto, as in the Naruto Strait, which are both well-known place names, yielding the reading kinu naruto. A further twist is that 怒 can also be read as do, corresponding to the Do- in Donald.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Shavit, David (1990). The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313267888.
  2. ^ a b c Fackler, Martin (November 2, 2012). "Lifelong Scholar of the Japanese Becomes One of Them". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "年譜 | プロフィール | ドナルド・キーンについて | ドナルド・キーン・センター柏崎". www.donaldkeenecenter.jp. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  4. ^ Keene, Donald; Yamaguchi, Akira (2008). Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-14441-4.
  5. ^ "Donald Keene's Japan (Pt. 1): 100 years since the birth of the late scholar". Mainichi Daily News. March 14, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  6. ^ "Sensei and Sensibility | Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  7. ^ "Donald Keene's Japan (Pt.2): An inspiring encounter with 'The Tale of Genji'". Mainichi Daily News. March 28, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "Donald Keene's Japan (Pt.3): War and fate linked scholar with Japanese language". Mainichi Daily News. April 11, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Cary, Otis and Donald Keene. War-wasted Asia: Letters, 1945–46. Kodansha International, 1975. ISBN 9780870112577 p13
  10. ^ a b c d Kilgannon, Corey (April 26, 2011). "Columbia Professor's Retirement Is Big News in Japan". City Room. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  11. ^ Donald Keene, 'Reminiscences of Cambridge', in Richard Bowring (ed.), Fifty years of Japanese at Cambridge, 1948–98: A Chronicle with Reminiscences (Cambridge: Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge, 1998), pp.16-7.
  12. ^ Donald Keene. "Donald Keene reflects on 70-year Japan experience" Japan Times. January 1, 2015
  13. ^ Keene, Donald (2008). Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan. Columbia University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-231-14441-4. I too had studied Chinese along with Japanese and hoped to become the second Waley.
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Lunch with the FT: Donald Keene", by David Pilling, Financial Times, October 28, 2011. (Archive link)
  15. ^ "U.S.-born scholar of Japanese literature Donald Keene dies at 96". Reuters. February 24, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2022. Keene, who befriended giants of Japanese literature such as Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata, was awarded the Order of Culture in March 2008, the first non-Japanese to receive it, and became a Japanese citizen in 2012.
  16. ^ "Famed Japan scholar Donald Keene dies at 96". Kyodo News. February 24, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "Keene adopts shamisen player as son". The Japan Times. May 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  18. ^ https://www.keenecenter.org/Donald_Keene.html
  19. ^ Reiji Yoshida. "Donald Keene, lauded scholar of Japanese literature, dies at 96", Japan Times. February 24, 2019
  20. ^ "Japanese literature scholar Donald Keene dies at 96". The Japan Times. Tokyo. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  21. ^ "WorldCat Identities". Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2012. Keene, Donald
  22. ^ "Professor Gets Prize; Keene of Columbia Cited for Work in Japanese Letters," New York Times. March 5, 1962.
  23. ^ "Donald Keene, 7 others win Order of Culture," Yomiuri Shimbun. October 29, 2008. [dead link]
[edit]
  • Media related to Donald Keene at Wikimedia Commons
  • Wikisource logo Works by or about Donald Keene at Wikisource
  • Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Keene&oldid=1330925978"