Yukio Kakuchi, a close friend and translator of the late Japanologist Donald Keene, gave a lecture at Tokyo's Setagaya Literary Museum, recounting their long friendship and discussing Keene's major work on Japanese literature. The event drew over 100 attendees as part of an ongoing Keene exhibition. Kakuchi criticized the lack of proper discussion of Keene's 'A History of Japanese Literature' among Japanese scholars.
Yukio Kakuchi, now 77, delivered his lecture on Sunday at the Setagaya Literary Museum in Tokyo, where an exhibition on Donald Keene is underway. He shared personal insights into Keene's lifelong project, "A History of Japanese Literature," and reflected on their friendship spanning nearly 50 years. Their bond began in 1972 when Kakuchi, then 24 and a reporter for The Student Times published by The Japan Times, interviewed Keene, who was 50 and a professor at Columbia University. Despite the age difference, they quickly became close, with Kakuchi visiting Keene's home almost weekly for drinks, conversations, and home-cooked meals.
Keene had lost his close friend Yukio Mishima to suicide in 1970, and with other acquaintances like Kobo Abe and Kenzaburo Oe occupied, Kakuchi stepped in as a companion. The friendship lasted until Keene's death in 2019 at age 96. Around 15 years after their first meeting, Kakuchi began translating Keene's works following a fallout between Keene and his previous translator, Takao Tokuoka. Though inexperienced, Kakuchi accepted after Keene's encouragement, saying, "You can do it." He translated about a dozen books during Keene's lifetime, including "Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912," "Watanabe Kazan," and "Masaoka Shiki," as well as posthumously discovered manuscripts. Kakuchi has also published his own book about Keene.
Kakuchi lamented that Japanese scholars have not adequately engaged with Keene's "A History of Japanese Literature," which comprises four English volumes and 18 in Japanese. The first English volume, "World Within Walls," appeared in 1976, marking 50 years this year. He attributed the neglect to Japan's literary community's emphasis on era- and genre-specific experts, viewing Keene's comprehensive approach by a single foreigner as unacceptable. Keene himself noted, "To write a chapter on the Kojiki, no author could surpass a scholar who had devoted his entire life to its study."
In an article titled "The Silenced History of Japanese Literature" published in the July 2025 issue of Shincho, Kakuchi elaborated on these views. He praised Keene's consistent perspective aimed at general readers, which sparked wider interest in Japanese literature. "For Keene, reader engagement was paramount above all else," Kakuchi said, quoting Keene: "Even if every fact is written correctly, that alone is boring. The author — me — must be present."
At the lecture's close, Keene's adopted son, Seiki, announced it as the final event of the exhibition. He shared an anecdote about a light blue shirt and tie given to Keene by Tokuoka's wife in hopes of reconciliation; she died in 2000, and though relations mended, Keene never wore them, keeping them boxed. Tokuoka, informed later, called his wife "bold" and was moved; he passed away last year. The exhibition continues until Sunday.
