Charles J. Dunn (June 24, 1915 – July 30, 1995) was a British japanologist who played a critical role in establishing the field of Japanese studies within the United Kingdom. In 1982 he was awarded the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

by Japanese Emperor

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

Life and career

Born in 1915, Dunn was educated at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

where he earned a BA in French literature in 1936.Charles Dunn (1915-1995)", by Hugh Cortazzi, in Cortazzi (ed.), Britain and China: Biographical Portraits, vol. 8 (Leiden: Global Oriental, 2013), pp. 525-34 He then worked for three years with the

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

of the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

and as a school teacher before joining the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1943. Because of his background in foreign languages, the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

assigned him to become a military translator and sent him to learn Japanese in an 18-month course at the

SOAS University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

. Displaying a gift both for Japanese and teaching, he was permanently assigned to the SOAS University of London as a lecturer to military translators in training for the remainder of the war. After the war, Dunn continued as lecturer at the SOAS; beginning with undergraduate courses in modern Japanese in 1947. He remained there until his retirement in 1982; having achieved the position of professor in 1970. In 1966, he published both the book ''Everyday Life in Traditional Japan'', and his doctoral dissertation on Japanese theatre. He served terms as president of the

British Association for Japanese Studies The British Association for Japanese Studies, ''BAJS'', is an association at Essex University in the United Kingdom, whose aim is to promote studies in Japan. Founded in 1974, the organisation is a member of the Japan Library Group and hands out the ...

and president of the

European Association for Japanese Studies The European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS or ヨーロッパ日本研究協会　ヨーロッパにほんけんきゅうきょうかい) was established in 1973 by European scholars in order to facilitate academic exchange in the field of ...

. He was awarded the

in 1982 by Japanese Emperor Hirohito. He died in 1995 at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Charles 1915 births 1995 deaths Academics of SOAS University of London British writers British Japanologists Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun