著者

石原 千里

出版者

Historical Society of English Studies in Japan

雑誌

英学史研究 (ISSN:03869490)

巻号頁・発行日

no.35, pp.1-15, 2002

被引用文献数

1

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Nishi is a most reputable family of Japanese-Dutch interpreter at Nagasaki. Kichibe Nishi, the 1st, began his career as interpreter in Portuguese in 1616 and then in Dutch in 1641.<BR>Kichibe Nishi (1811-1854), the 11th, was a chief compiler of <I>Egeresugo Jisho Wage</I>, the second English-Japanese dictionary compiled in Japan, and his son Kichijuro (1835-1891) was also one of the compilers. The dictionary, compiled from 1851 through 1854 but unfinished, was a fruit of the government order in 1850 to study English and Russian languages and to compile an EnglishJapanese dictionary, which was the second in history after the first similar government order in 1809.<BR>In 1853 Japan faced with one of the biggest events in history, the visits of Commodore M. C. Perry and also Admiral E. V. Putyatin with their squadrons, requesting the opening of Japan, and the interpreters were forced to be involved in those events. Major compilers of the dictionary, Kichibe Nishi, Einosuke Moriyama, Eishichiro Narabayashi and Gohachiro Namura, played important parts in them as well. Kichibe Nishi was the chief of the interpreter corps to Admiral E. V. Putyatin. He was used to be assigned tasks to facilitate confidential Dutch-Japanese talks between J. H. <I>Donker Curtius</I>, Superintendent of the Dutch Deshima Factory, and the Governor of Nagasaki over ways to deal with the foreign powers.<BR>Although it was unfortunate that the dictionary was left unfinished under those circumstances, the efforts of the interpreters directed to their study of English were to be highly valued, since many of them made the most of their knowledge of English in their work and in teaching English. Kichibe Nishi, who took charge of their studies of English, was also an excellent teacher of Dutch to many of those interpreters in their childhood. His life, which has little been known, is described in this paper.