was an American historian.

Biography

nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

, Najita was raised in Hawaii. He graduated from

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

in 1958, and was named a

Woodrow Wilson Fellow The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) is a nonpartisan, non-profit institution based in Princeton, New Jersey that says it aims to strengthen American democracy by "cultivating ...

. While in Grinnell, he became a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. Najita completed a doctorate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1965. Upon finishing his studies, Najita began teaching at

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

. He left Carleton in 1966, and became an associate professor at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. In 1969, Najita joined the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

faculty, and was later named a Robert S. Ingersolll Distinguished Service Professor in History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Over the course of his career, Najita received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1981, and was named to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1993. Grinnell College honored Najita with an alumni award in 1998. Five years after his retirement from the institution, the

inaugurated the Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture series in 2007. Najita died at his home in Kamuela, Hawaii, on January 11, 2021, after a long illness.

Bibliography

* Hara Kei in the Politics of Compromise, 1905-1915 (Harvard University Press, 1967). * Japan: the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Japanese Politics (Prentice-Hall, 1974). * Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan: the Kaitokudo Merchant Academy of Osaka (University of Chicago Press, 1987). * Ordinary Economies in Japan: a Historical Perspective, 1750-1950 (University of California Press, 2009). * Tokugawa Political Writings, (Cambridge University Press, 1998). * Japanese Thought in the Tokugawa Period, 1600-1868: Methods and Metaphors, co-edited with Irwin Scheiner, (University of Chicago Press, 1978). * Conflict in Modern Japanese History: the Neglected Tradition, co-edited with J. Victor Koschmann, (Princeton University Press, 1982).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Najita, Tetsuo 1936 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians American Japanologists Historians of Japan Grinnell College alumni Harvard University alumni Carleton College faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Chicago faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American writers of Japanese descent Hawaii people of Japanese descent 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Presidents of the Association for Asian Studies American academics of Japanese descent American male non-fiction writers