Mori Arinori
Draft Copy of an Important Letter on Japanese Language, 1872
26 manuscript sheets
Sheets each 8 x 10 inches
Each sheet embossed with congressional watermark.
Each sheet embossed with congressional watermark.
Manuscript draft of a seminally-important letter written by Mori Arinori to Yale professor William Dwight Whitney, asking for his advice on adopting English as Japan’s national language. The letter was...
Manuscript draft of a seminally-important letter written by Mori Arinori to Yale professor William Dwight Whitney, asking for his advice on adopting English as Japan’s national language. The letter was penned in Washington D.C. in 1872, during Arinori’s tenure as Japan’s first ambassador to the U.S. Also included is a second draft marked “copy” and a copy of Whitney’s reply.
A complicated and fascinating figure, one of Arinori’s most memorable causes was his attempt to replace Japanese with English as the national language. In 1872, when he was the ambassador to the United States, he wrote this letter to the linguist William D. Whitney, proposing the change and asking for Whitney’s assistance in the endeavor. In the letter, Arinori argues that Japanese is insufficient to handle the growing needs of the Japanese Empire because it is not considered an international language. Japanese, he believes, is limited in part because of its character based writing (which he dismisses as a vestige of Chinese imperialism), and argues in favor of a change to a phonetic alphabet. In one of the more amusing parts of his letter, Arinori suggests that English would be the best “future language of Japan,” but finds certain obstacles to this with language itself, and intends to engage Whitney in producing a simplified English. Arinori proposes changes to English which include eliminating irregular verb conjugations and simplifying spelling, particularly in instances of silent letters. These corrections, he argues, would not only make the language more easily adoptable in Japan, but merely follow the suggestions of well regarded linguists who have come before him. To what must have been Arinori’s great disappointment, Whitney responded by outrightly rejecting his criticism and proposed changes to English.
Though Arinori’s letter was published in the New York Tribune, and Whitney’s response appeared later in a compilation of letters published by Arinori, there is no doubt this was written by Arinori while in D.C., as it appears on Congressional stationary.
Mori Arinori was born in 1847 under the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled feudal Japan for over two centuries under the principles of isolationism. During his early education he became fascinated with Western studies, and studied at the University of London. He returned to Japan after the Meiji overthrow successfully ended the Shogunate rule. He was offered a position in the new government and became an influential advocate during the Meiji Restoration for the establishment of Western ideas, customs, and values in 19th century Japan. His success at introducing these cultural and structural changes would also lead to his death - he was assassinated in 1889 by an ultranationalist for allegedly desecrating a Shinto shrine.
A complicated and fascinating figure, one of Arinori’s most memorable causes was his attempt to replace Japanese with English as the national language. In 1872, when he was the ambassador to the United States, he wrote this letter to the linguist William D. Whitney, proposing the change and asking for Whitney’s assistance in the endeavor. In the letter, Arinori argues that Japanese is insufficient to handle the growing needs of the Japanese Empire because it is not considered an international language. Japanese, he believes, is limited in part because of its character based writing (which he dismisses as a vestige of Chinese imperialism), and argues in favor of a change to a phonetic alphabet. In one of the more amusing parts of his letter, Arinori suggests that English would be the best “future language of Japan,” but finds certain obstacles to this with language itself, and intends to engage Whitney in producing a simplified English. Arinori proposes changes to English which include eliminating irregular verb conjugations and simplifying spelling, particularly in instances of silent letters. These corrections, he argues, would not only make the language more easily adoptable in Japan, but merely follow the suggestions of well regarded linguists who have come before him. To what must have been Arinori’s great disappointment, Whitney responded by outrightly rejecting his criticism and proposed changes to English.
Though Arinori’s letter was published in the New York Tribune, and Whitney’s response appeared later in a compilation of letters published by Arinori, there is no doubt this was written by Arinori while in D.C., as it appears on Congressional stationary.
Mori Arinori was born in 1847 under the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled feudal Japan for over two centuries under the principles of isolationism. During his early education he became fascinated with Western studies, and studied at the University of London. He returned to Japan after the Meiji overthrow successfully ended the Shogunate rule. He was offered a position in the new government and became an influential advocate during the Meiji Restoration for the establishment of Western ideas, customs, and values in 19th century Japan. His success at introducing these cultural and structural changes would also lead to his death - he was assassinated in 1889 by an ultranationalist for allegedly desecrating a Shinto shrine.