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Richard John Bowring (born 6 February 1947) is an English academic serving as Professor of
Japanese Studies Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japan ...
at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
and an Honorary Fellow of
Downing College Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...
. In 2013, Bowring 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 f ...
3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon for contributions to the development of Japanese studies, Japanese language education and the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and the United Kingdom. After his academic career, Bowring was elected as master of
Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (1 ...
. During his time in office (2000–2012), Bowring oversaw major expansion of
Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (1 ...
, including the construction of Anne's court and two new Victorian stone-and-brick buildings on the main college site.


Academic career

Richard Bowring attended Blundell's School before graduating from the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
with a BA
Oriental Studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...
in 1968. He completed his doctoral thesis in the same field at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1973. In addition to Cambridge, Bowring has taught at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
and Columbia University. In 2013, Bowring 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 f ...
3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon for contributions to the development of Japanese studies, Japanese language education and the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and the United Kingdom. Since 1985 Bowring has been professor of
Japanese Studies Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japan ...
at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. He has published broadly on a number of different international and political subjects in leading journals and newspapers. Additionally, he has produced a number of monographs and books on the politics and culture of East Asia.


Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge

He also served as master of
Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (1 ...
, from 2000 until 2012. During his time in office, he oversaw major expansion of Selwyn College, including the construction of Anne's Court and several neo-revivalist Victorian stone and brick buildings, which were designed by the controversial neo-classical architect
Demetri Porphyrios Demetri Porphyrios ( el, Δημήτρης Πορφυρίου; born 1949) is a Greek architect and author who practices architecture in London as principal of the firm Porphyrios Associates. In addition to his architectural practice and writing, ...
. During his tenure, Selwyn College became more oriented towards excellence in politics, history, and international studies. According to some, Bowring also reinforced the traditional, conservative nature of Selwyn College which had been led in the previous generation by centre-right historians such as Edward Norman who has also been a fellow at the college.


Honours and prizes

*
Leverhulme The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...
Studentship (1973–75) *Japan Foundation Fellowship, Tōkyō University (1975–76) *Japan Foundation Professional Fellowship, Kyōto University (1980–1) *Japan Foundation Professional Fellowship, Keiō University (1987) *
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
Research Readership (1995–97) * Litt.D, University of Cambridge (1997) *Honorary Fellowship at
Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...
(2000) * (
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 f ...
, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, Third Class, 2013)


Publications

Books *2005 The Religious Traditions of Japan 500–1600 ( Cambridge University Press) *2002 (with H. Laurie) Cambridge Intermediate Japanese (Cambridge East Asia Institute) *1998 ed. Fifty years of Japanese at Cambridge 1948–98 (Privately published) *1996 The Diary of Lady Murasaki (Penguin Classics) ubstantial revision of 1982 book*1993 (with P. Kornicki) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan (Cambridge University Press) *1992 (with H. Laurie) An Introduction to Modern Japanese, 2 vols (Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, paperback 2004) *1988
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of '' The Tale of Genji,'' widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between abou ...
: The Tale of Genji, Landmarks of World Literature series (Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1991, second rev. ed. 2004) *1982 Murasaki Shikibu: Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs (Princeton University Press, reprinted 1985, paperback 1985, Italian trans. 1985) *1979
Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German ...
and the Modernization of Japanese Culture (Cambridge University Press) Articles in Journals and Books *2006 ' Fujiwara Seika and the Great Learning', Monumenta Nipponica 61.4: 437–57 *1998 'Preparing for the Pure Land in Late Tenth-Century Japan', Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 25.3–4: 221–57 *1995 'Kyōto as cultural crucible: women, poetry and nature in the tenth century’, in Kyōto: A Celebration of 1,200 years of History (SOAS, Japan Research Centre and Japan Soc. of London), pp. 7–17 *1993 ‘Buddhist translations in the Northern Sung’, Asia Major, 3rd series, vol. 5.2 (1992): 79–93. *1992 ‘The Ise monogatari: a short cultural history’, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 52.2: 401–80 *1991 ‘An amused guest in all: Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850–1935)’, in H. Cortazzi and G. Daniels, eds. Britain and Japan 1859–1991: Themes and Personalities (Routledge), pp. 128–36 (Japanese tr. 1998) *1988 Articles on ‘Genroku culture’ and ‘Nō’, and short entries on ‘Futabatei Shimei’, ‘Lafcadio Hearn’, ‘Ihara Saikaku’, ‘Mishima Yukio’, ‘Mori Ōgai’, ‘Murasaki Shikibu’, ‘Nagai Kafū’, ‘Natsume Sōseki’, ‘Shiga Naoya’, ‘Taiheiki’, ‘Takizawa Bakin’, and ‘Tanizaki Jun’ichirō’, Ainslie T. Embree, ed., Encyclopedia of Asian History (NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons) *1985 ‘Japanese from the outside, reading in’, The Cambridge Review 106: 68–70 *1984 ‘The female hand in Heian Japan: a first reading’, New York Literary Forum 12.13: 55–62 (reprinted in The Female Autograph, Chicago U. P., 1987) *1981 ‘Japanese diaries and the nature of literature’, Comparative Literature Studies 18.2: 167–74 *1978 ‘Ōgai ni okeru genjitsu to geijutsu’, in K. Takeda, ed., Mori Ōgai: rekishi to bungaku (Meiji Shoin), pp. 73–88 *1975 ‘The background to “Maihime”’, Monumenta Nipponica 30.2: 167–76 *1974 ‘Louis L. Seaman to Mori Gun’ikan’, Hikaku bungaku kenkyū 26 *1974 ‘Hon’yaku no gendai ni tsuite’, Ōgai zenshū geppō 27 Translations *2004 Mori Ōgai, ‘Nakajikiri’, in T. Rimer, ed., Not a Song Like any Other (University of Hawai’i Press), pp. 42–45 *1994 Mori Ōgai, ‘Kinka’ and ‘Mōsō’, in T. Rimer, ed., Youth and Other Stories (University of Hawai’i Press), pp. 167–81, 259–73 *1984 Watanabe Minoru, ‘Style and point of view in the Kagerō nikki’, Journal of Japanese Studies 10.2: 365–84 *1977 Mori Ōgai, ‘Okitsu Yagoemon no isho’, in D. Dilworth and T. Rimer, eds, The Historical Works of Mori Ōgai, vol 1 (University of Hawai’i Press), pp. 17–22 *1975 Mori Ōgai, ‘Maihime’, Monumenta Nipponica 30.2: 151–66 (reprinted in 1994) *1974 Mori Ōgai, ‘Utakata no ki’, in Monumenta Nipponica 29.3: 247–61


Sources


University of Cambridge, Website of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Extracted 3 June 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowring, Richard John 1947 births Living people British Japanologists Japanese literature academics Masters of Selwyn College, Cambridge Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class People educated at Blundell's School Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge