Yanagida Izumi

Japanese literature scholar and translator. Born into a farming family in Nakatsugaru County, Aomori Prefecture. After graduating from the Department of English Literature at Waseda University, he was involved in the translation of the Complete Works of Tolstoy and came to know Roan Uchida and Tsuyoshi Kimura. Sensing the loss of many documents in the Great Kanto Earthquake, he began researching Meiji literature based on a wide range of material collections, and participated in the Meiji Culture Research Society, which was established in 1924 (Taisho 13). In his later years, he became acquainted with Setsurei Miyake and Rohan Koda, and with his vast knowledge of Japanese, Chinese, and Western literature and his attention to even serious literature, he promoted solid empirical research. While teaching at his alma mater for many years, he also published numerous research works, including three volumes of "Studies in Political Novels" (1935-39) and "Essays on Meiji Literature" (1936, 1938), as well as "Young Tsubouchi Shoyo" (1960) and "Literary Thought in the Early Meiji Period" (1965), as well as translations of works by Carlyle and others. He was long respected and admired in academic circles.

[Kunihiko Nakajima]

"Meiji Culture Research Association, ed., 'Autobiography of Yanagida Izumi' (1972, Hirobunko)" ▽ "Yanagida Sensei Memorial Association, ed., 'Chronology and Bibliography of Yanagida Izumi's Works' (1965)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

国文学者、翻訳家。青森県中津軽郡の農家の生まれ。早稲田(わせだ)大学英文科卒業後、『トルストイ全集』の訳業に関係、内田魯庵(ろあん)や木村毅(き)を知る。関東大震災による文献焼失に感じ、広範な資料収集を基盤とした明治文学の研究に着手、1924年（大正13）発足の明治文化研究会にも参加。晩年の三宅雪嶺(みやけせつれい)、幸田露伴(ろはん)の知遇も得、和漢洋の膨大な知識、硬派の文学まで及ぶ目配りを支えに、手堅い実証的研究を推進。長く母校の教壇に立つかたわら、『政治小説研究』三巻（1935～39）、『随筆明治文学』正続（1936、38）のほか、『若き坪内逍遙(しょうよう)』（1960）、『明治初期の文学思想』上下（1965）など多数の研究書、カーライルなどの翻訳があり、学界からもその人ありと長く敬愛された。

［中島国彦］

『明治文化研究会編『柳田泉自伝』（1972・広文庫）』▽『柳田先生記念会編・刊『柳田泉先生年譜竝著作目録』（1965）』

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