Basil Hall Chamberlain

Basil Hall Chamberlain ( born October 18, 1850 † February 15, 1935 in Southsea in Portsmouth) was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the UK's leading Japanese studies who were active in Japan in the late 19th century. Other representatives were Ernest Mason Satow and William George Aston. He wrote, among other things, some of the first translations of haiku into English. He is perhaps best known for his informative and popular one-volume encyclopedia Things Japanese, which first appeared in 1890 and was later revised by him several times. His interests were varied, inter alia, he published a book of poems in French.

Early life

Chamberlain was born in Southsea, the son of Admiral William Charles Chamberlain and his wife, Eliza Hall, daughter of the travel writer Basil Hall. He was raised bilingual in English and French. After he was sent to his mother's death in 1856, to Versailles to his maternal grandmother, he learned in France also German. Chamberlain had hoped to study at the University of Oxford, began to work in London instead of at Barings Bank. However, it was not suitable for this work and soon suffered a nervous breakdown. In the hope of full recovery he left Britain, still with no clear direction.

Japan

Chamberlain arrived in Japan on 29 May 1873. He taught from 1874 to 1882 at the Imperial Naval Academy in Tokyo. However, his most important job was that of a professor of Japanese language at the Imperial University of Tokyo from 1886., Where he gained a reputation as a scholar of Japanese language and literature. He was also a pioneer in the study of the Ainu and Ryukyu languages. Among his works is the first translation of the Kojiki in the English Language (1906 ), A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese ( 1888), Things Japanese ( 1890) and A Practical Guide to the Study of Japanese Writing ( 1905). Despite chronic poor health, he was also an avid traveler and published together with WB Mason A Handbook for Travellers in Japan ( 1891), which was later reprinted several times.

Chamberlain was a friend of Lafcadio Hearn, and later they became alienated, however. His youngest brother was Houston Stewart Chamberlain.