was a Japanese

sinologist 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 the ex ...

('' kangakusha'') of the late

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

and Meiji periods.

Biography

Oka Rokumon was born on the second day of the eleventh month of Tenpō 4 according to the traditional

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...

(12 December 1833 in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

). He was born into a '' buke'' family in

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of the i ...

. While he was still young he moved to

and studied at the , an educational institute under the auspices of the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

. He eventually became the director (舎長) of the institution. While a student there, he developed close friendships with several of his classmates, notably , , and . In late 1861, he travelled to

Kinki The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolitan ...

, and while there, to help Keidō (who was not receiving a government salary), planned with Hanzan to establish a school in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. They called the school ''Sōshōkō-juku'' (双松岡塾), literally "Two Matsus and Oka School". The school became a meeting place for various figures associated with the '' sonnō-jōi'' movement, attracting negative attention from the authorities, and Oka was forced to shut the school down after less than a year. He was at this time ordered by his superiors 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 ...

to perform reconnaissance work in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

(the seat of the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and a hotbed of restorationist rebels). During the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, he opposed the union of the domains of Mutsu and Dewa provinces, drawing the ire of the government, and was imprisoned. Following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, he served in various government positions. After retiring early, he devoted himself to writing. In 1884 he visited China, writing a travel diary recounting his experiences, ''Kankō kiyū'' (観光記遊). He died on 18 February 1914. His grave is in

Yūtenji is a temple of the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism in Nakameguro, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. In 1718, the 3rd year of the Kyōhō era, the 36th Buddhist monk of Zōjōji called died. One of his disciples, , built Yūtenji as his shrine and made him ...

Meguro, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character, but is also home to light industry, corporate ...

Names

''Rokumon'' was his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

. His original given name was ''Tenshaku'' (天爵), and his

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

was ''Shibun'' (子文). He went by the name ''Keisuke'' (啓助) for a time, and changed his name to ''Senjin'' (千仭) and his courtesy name to ''Shin'i'' (振衣) at various times.

References

Works cited

* {{authority control Japanese sinologists 1833 births 1914 deaths