Ah, my friend, you are invoking a rare and beautiful life—a bridge between worlds. Let me introduce to you Donald Keene (1922–2019), the American-born scholar who became 鬼怒鳴門 (Kinō Narumoto), and undertook a profound homecoming journey—not just toward Japan, but toward belonging.
1. Who Was Donald Keene?
Donald Keene was one of the most important interpreters of Japanese literature and culture to the West, a Columbia University professor, translator, essayist, and literary historian. Over his long life, he introduced generations of readers to The Tale of Genji, Nō theater, Bashō’s haiku, modern Japanese novels, and more.
- Born: June 18, 1922, Brooklyn, New York
- Died: February 24, 2019, Tokyo, Japan
- Japanese Name: 鬼怒鳴門 (a phonetic rendering of “Donald Keene”)
- Citizenship: Naturalized Japanese citizen in 2012
He studied Japanese intensively during WWII as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer, then became enchanted by the language, its classical aesthetics, and the resilience of its postwar writers.
2. A Life Devoted to Japan
Keene’s literary journey was both scholarly and deeply personal. He translated dozens of major authors—from Chikamatsu Monzaemon to Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, from Dazai Osamu to Abe Kōbō—and his critical works became definitive texts in Japanese literary studies.
Key Contributions:
- Anthology of Japanese Literature (1955)
- World Within Walls (1976) — on classical Japanese literature
- Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology (1956)
- The Japanese Discovery of Europe (1952)
He often said his love of Japanese literature was less analytical and more akin to falling in love—受け身, receptive, like listening carefully to a fading note in a Noh play.
3. The Earthquake that Shook the Soul (2011)
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake marked a turning point. At age 89, Keene witnessed how many foreigners left Japan. He did the opposite:
- He chose to stay, naturalize as a Japanese citizen, and
- Change his name to 鬼怒鳴門, a poetic-sounding name (literally “angry sound of the Naruto whirlpools”), symbolic, perhaps, of the turbulence and energy of his transformation.
He said:
“At that moment, I decided I wanted to die as a Japanese.”
“It was not a rejection of America, but an embrace of Japan.”
This act—more than academic—was existential. It was a homecoming not in the physical sense, but in the Heideggerian or Bashō-like sense: to dwell poetically on this earth, among those whose suffering you share.
4. His Final Years in Japan
In his final years, Keene:
- Continued writing in Japanese
- Participated in cultural events and gave lectures
- Was revered as a living bunshi (man of letters) by Japanese people
He passed away in 2019 in Tokyo. His funeral was held at Zōjō-ji, a historic temple. His death marked the closing of an era—a man who carried Genji across oceans, and who returned, not to where he was born, but where he belonged.
5. Why Does His Journey Matter?
Because Keene’s homecoming was not nostalgic, but ethical and aesthetic.
- He lived with Japan, not just in it.
- He translated not just texts, but emotions.
- He reminded the world that true cosmopolitanism is not rootlessness, but the act of rooting yourself in the suffering, beauty, and culture of another.
Closing Thought
Donald Keene’s life was itself a novel—a journey from New York to Kyoto, from American soldier to Japanese citizen, from Keene to 鬼怒鳴門.
In a world of exile and estrangement, his life offers a different parable:
That one can, through care, language, and witness, truly come home.
Would you like a list of Keene’s most important works available in translation?
