Kunitake Kume

A historian of the Meiji and Taisho periods. His pen name was Ekido, and he was a Doctor of Literature. He was born on July 11, 1830, to a samurai of the Saga domain, and studied at the Shoheizaka Academy in Edo. From 1871 to 1873, he accompanied the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador Iwakura Tomomi on his inspection tours of America and Europe, and was ordered to be the managing director of the compilation of the envoy's travelogues, and wrote the five-volume "Actual Records of the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador's Tour of America and Europe" (1878). He then worked on compiling the "Dai Nihon Henronshi" at the Shushikan and the Provisional Shushikan Bureau, and in 1888 became a professor at the Faculty of Letters of the Imperial University. "Kouhon Kokushigan" (Co-edited with Shigeno Yasutsugu and others) is the result of his research during that time. In 1891, he published a paper entitled "Shinto is the ancient custom of worshipping the heavens" in the Historical Society Journal, No. 23-25. When this was reprinted the following year by Ukichi Taguchi in Volume 8 of Shikai, he incurred the wrath of conservative Shintoists, and was eventually removed from his position as a professor at the Imperial University and dismissed from his post. After that, he traveled around the country, giving lectures on geography and historical stories, and proofreading county records. In 1899, he was invited to Tokyo Senmon Gakko (the predecessor to Waseda University), founded by his friend from the same town, Okuma Shigenobu, as a lecturer, and then became a professor, where he was in charge of research on ancient documents and national history until 1921 (Taisho 10). He passed away on February 24, 1931. His many books include "Lectures on Ancient Documents," "The Chronicles of Prince Joguji," "History of the Northern and Southern Courts Period," "The Backside of Japan," and "Eight Views of National History."

[Nomaru Sato]

"Japanese Historians" edited by Keiji Nagahara and Masanao Kano (1976, Nippon Hyoronsha) " A Study of the Political History of the Emperor System" by Masato Miyaji (1981, Azekura Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期の歴史学者。号は易堂(えきどう)。文学博士。天保(てんぽう)10年7月11日、佐賀藩士の子に生まれ、江戸の昌平坂(しょうへいざか)学問所に学ぶ。1871年（明治4）～73年、特命全権大使岩倉具視(いわくらともみ)の米欧視察に随行し、使節紀行纂輯(さんしゅう)専務心得を命ぜられ、『特命全権大使米欧回覧実記』全5冊（1878）を著した。ついで、修史館、臨時修史局で『大日本編年史』の編修に従事し、88年に帝国大学文科大学教授となった。『稿本国史眼』（重野安繹(しげのやすつぐ)らと共編）はその間の研究成果である。91年、論文「神道ハ祭天の古俗」を『史学会雑誌』第23～25号に発表した。これが翌年、田口卯吉(うきち)によって『史海』第8巻に転載されると、旧守的な神道家の反感を買い、ついに帝大教授非職となり、依願免官となった。以後、地方を遊歴し、地誌・史談の講演、郡誌などの校閲にあたった。99年、同郷の友大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)の創立した東京専門学校（早稲田(わせだ)大学の前身）に講師として迎えられ、ついで教授となり、1921年（大正10）まで古文書研究・国史を担当した。昭和6年2月24日没。『古文書学講義』『上宮太子実録』『南北朝時代史』『裏日本』『国史八面観』その他多くの著書がある。

［佐藤能丸］

『永原慶二・鹿野政直編著『日本の歴史家』（1976・日本評論社）』▽『宮地正人著『天皇制の政治史的研究』（1981・校倉書房）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例