was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

social philosopher and critic.

Biography

Fukuda was the pseudonym of , born on 6 April 1917. He studied philosophy at

Hosei University is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan. The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha (, i.e. Tokyo association of law), established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō (, i.e. Tokyo school of law ...

(Tokyo), graduating in 1940. In 1944 he was sent to

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island. Hal ...

; he returned to Japan in 1946. Two years later he started teaching philosophy at his old university, where he would stay until 1970. Thereafter he supported himself by his writing. Fukuda — the name he used as a teacher as well as a writer — was a prolific author: a ''hyōronka'' (critic or pundit) and popularizer of philosophy. He died on 11 December 2002.

Sources

* ''Gendai Nihon shippitsusha daijiten'' () / ''Contemporary writers in Japan.'' 5 vols. Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, 1979. * ''Hyōronka jinmei-jiten'' () / ''Japanese critics and commentators: A biographical dictionary.'' Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, 1990. * ''20-seiki Nihon jinmei-jiten'' () / ''Major 20th-century people in Japan: A biographical dictionary.'' 2 vols. Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, 2004. 1917 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Japanese philosophers Japanese critics Social philosophers Hosei University alumni {{japan-philosopher-stub