Two books on Japan’s modern era, written and translated by the acclaimed researcher and translator Hashem Rajabzadeh, have been published by Jahan-e Ketab publication.
Rajabzadeh has rendered “Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912” written by Japanese scholar and historian Donald Keene into Persian and also published his own research “History of Renovation in Japan,” ISNA reported on its Persian website.
The important translation offers insight into industrial and modern Japan that coincides with the late Qajar era. The Emperor Meiji was contemporary to Qajar king Naser al-Din Shah (1831-1896)
Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid, and sometimes violent, change during this crucial period in Japan’s history.
Keene, 95, is an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. He is professor of Japanese literature at Columbia University.
Rajabzadeh’s book “History of Renovation in Japan” is about reforms in Japan that shaped its modern society.
Between 1868 and 1873 Japan moved away from isolation and started to interact with the outside world. The book reviews the Meiji Restoration that separated the emperor’s power from that of the government, the 1894-1895 Sino-Japanese war and the 1904-1905 Russian-Japanese war.
Rajabzadeh, 77, teaches Iranian studies and Persian literature at several Japanese universities. He is currently retired in Osaka. In 2009, he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure from Emperor Akihito in recognition of his efforts to introduce Persian culture and civilization to the people of Japan.
He has published over 50 books and 240 articles mostly about Japanese culture and history as well as commonalities between Persian and Japanese culture.
One of his books is “Japan as Seen by Qajar Travelers” is about a number of Japanese travel accounts and memoirs of Japanese who traveled to Iran from 1880 onwards. It has been complied and translated by Rajabzadeh in collaboration with Japanese researchers.
