Yuzo Nagahori - Retiring in AY2020

It has already been 28 years since I was appointed as a Chinese language teacher at the Faculty of Economics at Keio's Hiyoshi Campus. I had hoped to enjoy my final year at a leisurely pace as I approached retirement, but it is a shame that this COVID-19 pandemic has left me with no time to indulge in sentimentality.

Looking back, my first impression of the Faculty of Economics was its openness and its vibrant, liberal atmosphere. I believe there was a culture of free discussion in faculty meetings, where younger faculty members were treated as equals, and as far as I could see, you were free to research whatever you wanted and criticize whomever you wished, as long as it was in the pursuit of scholarship.

The students also seemed more sophisticated compared to those at other universities I had experienced, giving me the impression that they didn't require much supervision. However, a few years after my appointment, as the impact of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident began to fade, the number of students taking Chinese exploded. I remember it was quite a challenge to teach introductory Chinese to 40 or 50 students in packed classrooms. It was an unfortunate situation for the students as well, but thanks to everyone's efforts, curriculum reform led to the realization of small class sizes, bringing us to the current situation.

A university is a place for research and education, and as someone with experience as a high school teacher, I have tried to pay attention to the "education" aspect by fulfilling the role of a "homeroom teacher" to a degree that was not overly intrusive. I would be happy if I at least managed not to hinder the students' independent growth.

In my research, my main subject has been Lu Xun, and within that, I have focused on the theme of Lu Xun and Trotsky. When we were university students, Mao Zedong, the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Lu Xun were seen as a kind of trinity. However, this is nothing but a myth. I believe I have empirically demonstrated that although Lu Xun was forced by circumstances to cooperate with the CPC and the Comintern, he harbored misgivings about the Soviet Union, Stalin, and even the CPC and Mao Zedong.

Naturally, the scope of my research expanded to include Chen Duxiu—a leader of China's New Culture Movement, a founder of the CPC, and a figure often compared to Japan's Fukuzawa Yukichi—as well as successive CPC leaders like Qu Qiubai and Mao Zedong, and even figures like Richard Sorge and Lu Xun's younger brother, Zhou Zuoren.

To put it a bit dramatically, my aim has been to re-examine the relationship between Lu Xun and Mao Zedong/the CPC, and to revise the history of the CPC, based on minor facts that have been overlooked, in an effort to rescue Lu Xun from the trap set by Stalin and Mao Zedong. It is unfortunate, however, that this effort may have come a little too late.

I compiled the main results of my research on Lu Xun and related topics in my principal work, "Lu Xun and Trotsky" (Heibonsha, 2011; Chinese edition published by Renjian Chubanshe in Taiwan, 2015. While it is difficult to publish my work on the mainland, I am pleased that many researchers in China, especially younger ones, have read the Taiwanese edition). I also wrote a short biography of Chen Duxiu based on new materials in "Chen Duxiu" for the "Sekai-shi Libretto: Hito" (World History Libretto: People) series (Yamakawa Shuppansha, 2015). Following that, I formed a translation team and published the three-volume "Collected Works of Chen Duxiu" (Heibonsha Toyo Bunko, 2016–2017). This was preceded by my work on the co-translation of "Portraits of the Early Chinese Communist Party: The Memoirs of the Trotskyist Zheng Chaolin" (Toyo Bunko, 2003), which describes the internal affairs of the CPC in its early days. Furthermore, since the 1990s, I have had an association with Mo Yan, China's first Nobel laureate in literature, as the translator of his short story collection "From a Chinese Village" (JICC Shuppankyoku, 1991). After he won the prize, I also translated his autobiographical novel "Change" (Akashi Shoten, 2013). In a sense, he can be considered a writer who follows in the literary lineage of Lu Xun.

The fact that I was able to engage in such research activities for many years is in large part thanks to being at the Faculty of Economics, Keio University. I intend to continue working on the tasks I have yet to complete.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me at Keio and send my best wishes to all my students.

(Interview conducted in December 2020)