Wenceslau de Moraes

A Portuguese naval officer and a researcher of Japanese culture. After graduating from the Naval Academy, he served in the country's overseas colonies. He first came to Japan in 1889 (Meiji 22), and visited the country frequently thereafter. In 1898, he retired from the military after serving as deputy commander of the Macau port (naval lieutenant commander), and emigrated to Japan. He became consul in Kobe and Osaka, and married a geisha named Fukumoto Yone, who was born in Tokushima. After Yone's death, he moved to Tokushima in 1912, and married her niece, Saito Koharu, but Koharu also died of illness within about three years, and he spent his final years there alone. He had a deep love for Japanese popular culture, and wrote many pieces introducing and researching it for newspapers and magazines in his home country. These were published and also in books. His major works include "Dai Nippon" (1897), "Japan Correspondence" (1902-13), "Tokushima Bon Odori" (1911), "Rice and Koharu" (1923), and "Glimpse of the Japanese Spirit" (1925). The film "Floating Island of Love" (1982, directed by Paulo Rocha), a joint Japanese-Portuguese production, depicts the life of Moraes.

[Norihiko Hamaguchi]

"The Complete Works of Moraes, Translated by Tomizo Hanano, Five Volumes (1969, Shueisha)" ▽ "My Life of Moraes, by Saneo Tsukuda (1966, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ポルトガルの海軍士官、日本文化研究家。海軍兵学校を卒業して海外植民地に勤務。1889年（明治22）初めて来日、以後しばしば日本を訪れた。98年マカオ港務副司令（海軍中佐）を最後に退役し、日本に移住。神戸、大阪領事となり、徳島生まれの芸者福本ヨネと結婚。ヨネの死後1912年徳島に移住、その姪(めい)斎藤コハルをめとったが、3年ほどでコハルも病没し、同地で孤独な晩年を送った。日本の庶民文化を熱愛し、これを研究紹介する多くの作品を故国の新聞・雑誌に書き送った。それらは掲載され、また書籍として出版された。主著に『大日本』（1897）、『日本通信』（1902～13）、『徳島の盆踊』（1911）、『お米(よね)と小春』（1923）、『日本精神瞥見(べっけん)』（1925）などがある。モラエスの生涯を描いた日葡(にっぽ)合作の映画『恋の浮島』（1982、パウロ・ローシャ監督）がある。

［濱口乃二雄］

『花野富蔵訳『定本モラエス全集』全五巻（1969・集英社）』▽『佃実夫著『わがモラエス伝』（1966・河出書房新社）』

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