Franziska Ehmcke (born 1947) was a professor of Japanese Studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

and recipient of the Japanese order "

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 ...

." She has been emeritus professor since 2015.

Personal life

Franziska Ehmcke was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1947.

Education

Ehmcke studied

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese Studies,

Sinology Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to th ...

, and General and Comparative

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

. She was awarded a DAAD

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

at Tôhoku University in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

and in 1978 received her

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in Japanese Studies at the University of Hamburg.

Career

Ehmcke was a Research Assistant in the East Asian Faculty of the

from 1978 to 1986, later working as a freelance translator and author between 1986 and 1993. She was Professor and Head of the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Cologne from 1994 to 2012, and member of the board of the Center for Asian Studies. On June 14, 2013 Ehmcke was awarded the Japanese order "

for her cooperation with other institutions and projects in Japan, promotion of Japan outside of academia, and impact on German-Japanese relations, having established the first taught degree program in Japanese at the University of Cologne, which trained Japanese schoolteachers. Ehmcke's publications include ''Der japanische Tee-Weg – Bewusstseinsschulung und Gesamtkunstwerk'' (Cologne, 1991) and ''Osaka zu byobu – Ansichten der Burgstadt Osaka in Schloss Eggenberg'' (Graz, 2010).

References

1947 births Living people University of Hamburg alumni Academic staff of the University of Cologne German women non-fiction writers Asian studies German sinologists {{Germany-academic-bio-stub