Morita Shiken

2016/11/11

Shiken Morita (1861–1897) was a figure known as the "King of Translation," who introduced translations of Jules Verne's "Two Years' Vacation" (known in Japan as "Jūgo Shōnen") and works by Victor Hugo to the world. During the Meiji era, when translated literature held a mission as important as original creative writing, Shiken made a name for himself as a pioneer of translated literature and a popular author alongside Mori Ogai and Futabatei Shimei. He was also a person who expanded his literary activities beyond translation to include work as a journalist, critic, and essayist.

Born in 1861 in Kasaoka Village, Oda District, Bitchu Province (present-day Kasaoka, Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture), he was the eldest son of father Sahei and mother Nao, and was named Bunzo. Shiken's birthplace was a merchant house with the trade name Tomoya, which operated a pawnshop. His father, Sahei, loved learning, went by the pseudonym Sankei, and excelled in calligraphy and painting; he was said to be a born bibliophile who spent every spare moment immersed in books.

Shiken grew up watching his father, and around the age of eight or nine, he was raised listening to his father, Sahei, read aloud the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature: "Journey to the West," "Water Margin," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and "Jin Ping Mei." Although these works were likely difficult for someone of Shiken's age, Sahei is said to have explained them with serious passion.

Around the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, Sahei closed the pawnshop and switched to the bookstore business, eventually becoming the village head (kocho) of Kasaoka. In 1882, he was elected to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly and served as the 5th and 6th Speaker of the Assembly, becoming a successful local politician. Furthermore, in 1873, Sahei published Okayama Prefecture's first newspaper, the "Oda-ken Shimbun," as well as works such as "Nichiyo Bunsho," "Domo Shujihon," and "Domo Kaiwa-hen." Shiken respected and adored his father, referring to him as "Kakun Taizin" (Honored Father).

Another person who had a great influence on Shiken during his childhood was his great-uncle, Kichizo. Shiken, who had a great dislike of earthquakes, would visit Kichizo's house as a refuge even during minor tremors. He would spend all day running through the mountains and fields, and out of pure enjoyment, he would sometimes stay at his great-uncle's house for ten days to nearly a month. Kichizo, who was self-taught in Kokugaku (National Learning) and Kangaku (Chinese Studies), doted on the bright Shiken and also read works like "Journey to the West," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and "Water Margin" to him.

Such an environment must have cultivated Shiken's abilities as a translator.

Shiken's connection with Keio University began in May 1874, when he entered Osaka Keio University. From 1872, Shiken had attended an elementary school (Keimosho) at Henjo-ji Temple in Kasaoka for two years. Because of his excellent academic performance, his father, Sahei, was earnestly encouraged by the professor to send Shiken to the capital for further study. Since Sahei was serving as the village head of Kasaoka, he was acquainted with Mitsuyoshi Yano, who was then the provisional governor of Oda Prefecture. Mitsuyoshi's son was Fumio Yano (Ryukei Yano), who served as the principal of the Osaka Keio University branch and later the Tokushima Keio University branch, and who would later become active as a journalist, man of letters, and a right-hand man to Shigenobu Okuma.

Shiken, who left his parents to begin studying English at Osaka Keio University, was still only 13 years old. His daily feelings of loneliness are well-expressed in his later collection of essays, "Yūokkiki." For example, it is said that he would tear up whenever he passed near the inn where he stayed when his father brought him to Osaka, and after dinner, he would sit alone in the Juku, which had become empty as other Keio students went out for walks, and take out his mother's letters to read them repeatedly.

Osaka Keio University was closed in June 1875 due to factors such as stagnant student numbers, and it moved to Tokushima to become Tokushima Keio University. Shiken also moved to Tokushima along with the principal, Yano. Furthermore, in the spring of 1876, when Yano returned to the capital, Shiken also went to Tokyo and entered Keio University. Looking at the enrollment records of the time, the name Fumio Yano appears in the guarantor column. During his time at the Juku, Shiken stayed in the same boarding house in Mita Shikoku-cho with Takayuki Ooe (Keika) and Yukio Ozaki, who was later called the "God of Constitutional Government." Ooe later recalled that the three of them "read books during the day and went to the yose (storytelling theater) together at night to dispel their gloom."

Shiken withdrew from the university and returned home in April of the following year, 1877. While the reason is unclear, it can be said that for Shiken, this period of study at Keio University was a time to acquire English proficiency as a basic academic skill for engaging with new Western learning, as well as a pioneer spirit to venture into unexplored territories. Additionally, meeting Fumio Yano and traveling with him to Osaka, Tokushima, and Tokyo had a significant impact on his later life.

Although Shiken studied at Keio University, his time there was short, and it is unclear how much contact he had with Fukuzawa. One cannot find many passages in Shiken's writings that mention his time at Keio University or Fukuzawa. However, there is an anecdote that illustrates Shiken's respect and admiration for Fukuzawa.

On April 27, 1889, an article in the miscellaneous news section of the Jiji Shinpo published the public speaking performed by Fukuzawa at the wedding reception of his eldest son, Ichitaro. Upon reading this article, Shiken was moved, thinking, "Such is the compassion of one who is a father." For Shiken, Fukuzawa's public speaking reminded him of the affection his own father, Sahei, had for him. This can be seen in his own work, "Shoka Manpitsu" (Summer Sketches). A summary of this, translated into modern Japanese, is introduced in "Morita Shiken: The Translation King of the Meiji Era" (written by Yasuhiko Taniguchi), and is quoted here.

"Yesterday, I went to the Yubin Hochi Sha and happened to flip through the Jiji Shinpo, where I found an article about the public speaking of Yukichi Fukuzawa regarding the wedding reception of his son, Ichitaro. As I finished reading the article, I felt tears spontaneously welling up in my eyes. Is the affection of a father truly like this? At that moment, I felt even more the immeasurable affection of my own father. It is easy to move people with writing, but difficult to 'kun-zuru' (to influence people with virtue, like a fragrance). That public speaking of Yukichi Fukuzawa influences people with a pleasant fragrance, as gentle as the morning mist. I intend to send this article to my hometown to serve as a propitious decoration for family harmony and happy peace."

Shiken spoke these words when he met Osamu Watanabe, who was a reporter for the Jiji Shinpo. Moved by Shiken's devotion, Watanabe is said to have sent him the original manuscript handwritten by Yukichi Fukuzawa that was in the editorial office.

After leaving Keio University, Shiken returned to his hometown of Kasaoka and studied at a local Kangaku Juku called Kojokan, but he also left this school midway. It was Fumio Yano who once again provided Shiken with the opportunity to go to Tokyo. In 1882, Shiken left his hometown again for Tokyo. At that time, Shiken was reportedly interested in deepening his study of Chinese classics and in political activities. Shiken was 21 years old at the time. In modern society, this is a period of uncertainty when one thinks about their future, such as job hunting and career paths. Shiken may have also been in a period of searching for what he wanted to do and what he should do.

However, after joining the Hochi Sha, the publisher of the "Yubin Hochi Shinbun" where Yano served as president, Shiken followed Yano's advice and turned to Western literature. He is said to have read through world history, English history, Roman history, and Greek history through self-study. With that knowledge and his foundation in Chinese classics, he collaborated on Yano's historical novel "Keikoku Bidan" (Noble Tales of Statesmanship) and began to be recognized as a writer.

As a reporter, Shiken went to Qing China in 1885 under Yano's instructions to write articles on the Sino-Japanese negotiations and the conclusion of the Treaty of Tientsin. Furthermore, from the end of that year to the following summer, he went on an inspection tour of Europe and the United States at the invitation of Yano, who was visiting Britain to observe and study British constitutional politics and the state of newspapers. There are records that he traveled through various European countries with Yano and read an English translation of "Les Misérables" at an inn in Germany. He returned home from San Francisco via London and New York.

After returning to Japan, Shiken took charge of writing for a newly established novel column in the newspaper, an idea proposed by Yano. This event became his starting point as a translator.

Works translated by Shiken include Hugo's "Detective Hubert" (Claude Gueux), "Kinrotan" (The Tale of the Golden Donkey), which was an abridged translation of "The Golden Ass" from the classic "Metamorphoses" by the Roman writer Apuleius, and works by the French science adventure writer Jules Verne (1828–1905). Shiken was particularly fond of Verne's works and worked on the translation of 12 of them.

Among the most famous is "Jugo Shonen" (Fifteen Boys). This was a translation of Verne's work "Two Years' Vacation," serialized in 1896 in the comprehensive magazine for boys "Shonen Sekai" published by Hakubunkan. It was a "relay translation" (juyaku) of an English version into Japanese. Set in New Zealand, the story begins when the mooring lines of a ship that students from Chairman School had boarded for a two-month summer vacation come loose, and they drift into the Pacific Ocean, eventually washing up on a deserted island after surviving a two-week storm. It is a castaway chronicle depicting the adventures of 15 boys of different nationalities, aged 8 to 14, as they survive for two years on this deserted island and safely return home.

Saburo Kuwahara, a former teacher at Keio Yochisha Elementary School and a renowned researcher of children's literature history, wrote, "Shiken's 'Jugo Shonen' can be called the pioneer of the boy adventure stories that followed." After the serialization ended, it was published as a book and became popular among many young people, and is considered a classic of children's literature. Today, it continues to be widely and long read in the world of children's literature under the title "Jugo Shonen Hyoryuki" (Two Years' Vacation) by other translators.

Shiken died young at the age of 36, the year after the serialization of "Jugo Shonen" ended. He had just begun working on a translation of Hugo's "Les Misérables," something he had said he would do when he turned 40. The translation of "Les Misérables," which Shiken could not complete, was taken over by Ruiko Kuroiwa, who was close to Shiken and had also studied at Keio University.