Background
Shinmura Izuru was born on October 4, 1876 in Yamaguchi, Japan. His first family name was Sekiguchi.
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1955
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1996
linguist philologist professor
Shinmura Izuru was born on October 4, 1876 in Yamaguchi, Japan. His first family name was Sekiguchi.
He graduated from the Tokyo Imperial University in 1899 where he studied philology under the instruction of Ueda Kazutoshi. Between 1906 and 1909 he studied abroad in England, Germany, and France where he studied linguistics. In 1919 he received a Doctor of Letters.
In 1902, Shimura taught at Tokyo Higher Normal School, and in 1904 at Tokyo Imperial University. After returning from studying abroad, he taught at Kyoto Imperial University for a number of years.
During his career, Shinmura compiled a number of Japanese dictionaries: Jien (辞苑, lit. "Garden of words") in 1935, Genrin (言林, lit. "Forest of words") in 1949, and Kōjien (広辞苑, lit. "Wide garden of words") in 1955, for which he is most known.
In 1956 Shinmura was awarded the Order of Culture for his many contributions.
Shinmura introduced western linguists to Japan and created the fundamental framework upon which modern Kokugogaku rests. His research included a study of the historical development of the Japanese language, a comparative study of Japanese with the neighboring languages, and etymology. He also made important contributions to the study of 16-17th-century Christian missionaries in Japan.
