Morita Shiken

Morita Shiken (1861–1897) was a figure known as the "King of Translation," having introduced translations of Jules Verne's "Two Years' Vacation" (translated as "Fifteen Boys") and the works of Victor Hugo to the world. During the Meiji period, when translated literature carried a mission as important as original creative writing, Shiken made a name for himself as a pioneer of translated literature and a popular author alongside Mori Ogai and Futabatei Shimei. He was also a man who expanded his literary activities beyond translation to include work as a journalist, critic, and essayist.

Born in 1861 in Kasaoka Village, Oda District, Bitchu Province (present-day Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture) as the eldest son of father Sahei and mother Nao, he was named Bunzo. Shiken's family home used the shop name "Tomoya" and was a merchant house operating a pawnshop. His father, Sahei, loved learning, went by the pen name Sankei, was skilled in calligraphy and painting, and was a born bibliophile who would immerse himself in books whenever he had a spare moment.

Shiken grew up watching his father, and around the age of eight or nine, he was raised listening to his father Sahei read aloud the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature: "Journey to the West," "Water Margin," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and "Jin Ping Mei." Although these works were likely difficult for someone of Shiken's age, Sahei is said to have explained them with serious passion.

Around the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, Sahei closed the pawnshop and switched to the bookstore business, eventually becoming the village headman of Kasaoka. In 1882, he was elected to the Okayama Prefectural Assembly and served as the 5th and 6th Speaker of the Assembly, becoming a successful local politician. Furthermore, in 1873, Sahei published Okayama Prefecture's first newspaper, the "Oda Prefecture Newspaper," as well as books such as "Nichiyo Bunsho," "Domo Shujihon," and "Domo Kaiwahen." Shiken respected and loved his father, referring to him as "Kajun Taishin" (My Lord Father).

Another person who had a great influence on Shiken during his childhood was his great-uncle, Kichizo. Shiken, who had a great dislike of earthquakes, would visit Kichizo's house as a refuge every time even a small earthquake occurred. He would run through the mountains and fields all day long, and out of pure enjoyment, he would sometimes stay at his great-uncle's house for ten days to nearly a month. Kichizo, who was self-taught in Japanese and Chinese classics, doted on the clever Shiken and also read works like "Journey to the West," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and "Water Margin" to him.

Such an environment undoubtedly cultivated Shiken's abilities as a translator.

Shiken's connection with Keio University began in May 1874, when he entered Osaka Keio University. From 1872, Shiken had attended an elementary school at Henjo-ji Temple in Kasaoka for two years. Because of his excellent academic performance, his father Sahei was earnestly encouraged by the professors to send Shiken to the capital for further study. Since Sahei was serving as the village headman of Kasaoka, he was acquainted with Yano Mitsuyoshi, who was then the provisional governor of Oda Prefecture. Mitsuyoshi's son was Yano Fumio (Yano Ryukei), who served as the principal of the Osaka and later Tokushima branches of Keio University, and who would later become active as a journalist, man of letters, and a right-hand man to Okuma Shigenobu.

Shiken, who left his parents to begin studying English at Osaka Keio University, was only 13 years old. His daily feelings of loneliness are well-expressed in his later collection of essays, "Yukonki." For example, he would tear up whenever he passed near the inn where his father had stayed when dropping him off in Osaka. After dinner, while other Keio students went out for walks and the Juku became empty, he would take out his mother's letters alone and read them repeatedly.

Osaka Keio University closed in June 1875 due to factors such as stagnant student numbers and moved to Tokushima to become Tokushima Keio University. Shiken also moved to Tokushima along with Principal Yano. Furthermore, in the spring of 1876, when Yano returned to the capital, Shiken also went to Tokyo and entered Keio University. Looking at the enrollment records of the time, the name Yano Fumio appears in the guarantor column. During his time at the Juku, Shiken stayed in the same boarding house in Mita Shikoku-machi with Oe Takayuki (Keika) and Ozaki Yukio, who was later called the "God of Constitutional Government." Oe later recalled that the three of them "read books during the day and went to the theater together at night to dispel their gloom."

Shiken left the Juku in April of the following year (1877) and returned home. The reason is not certain, but for Shiken, this period of study at Keio University can be seen as a time when he acquired English proficiency as a basic academic skill for facing new Western learning, as well as a pioneer spirit to venture into unexplored territories. Additionally, meeting Yano Fumio and traveling with him to Osaka, Tokushima, and Tokyo had a significant impact on his later life.

Although Shiken studied at Keio University, the period was short, and it is unclear how much contact he had with Fukuzawa. One cannot find many mentions of his time at Keio University or of Fukuzawa in Shiken's writings. However, there is an anecdote that shows Shiken's deep respect for Yukichi Fukuzawa.

On April 27, 1889, an article in the Jiji Shinpo newspaper featured a speech given by Fukuzawa at the wedding reception of his eldest son, Ichitaro. Upon reading this article, Shiken was moved, saying, "Such is the affection of one who is a father." For Shiken, Fukuzawa's public speaking reminded him exactly of his father Sahei's affection for him. This sentiment can be seen in his own work, "Shoka Manpitsu." A summary of this, translated into modern Japanese, is introduced in "Meiji no Hon'yaku-o: Morita Shiken" (written by Yasuhiko Taniguchi), and is quoted here.

"Yesterday, I went to the Yubinhochi-sha office and happened to flip through the Jiji Shinpo, where I found an article about Yukichi Fukuzawa's speech at his son Ichitaro's wedding reception. As I finished reading the article, I felt tears spontaneously welling up in my eyes. Is the affection of a father truly like this? I felt even more the immeasurable affection of my own father. It is easy to move people with writing, but it is difficult to 'kun-zuru' (to influence others through virtue, like a fragrance). That speech by Yukichi Fukuzawa influences people with a gentle, good fragrance like the morning mist. I intend to send this article to my hometown to serve as a propitious decoration for family harmony and happiness."

Shiken spoke these words when he met Osamu Watanabe, a reporter for the Jiji Shinpo. Moved by Shiken's devotion, Watanabe reportedly sent him the original manuscript handwritten by Yukichi Fukuzawa that was in the editorial office.

After leaving Keio University, Shiken returned to his hometown of Kasaoka and studied at a local school for Chinese classics called Kojokan, but he left that school midway as well. It was Yano Fumio who again provided the opportunity for Shiken to go to Tokyo. In 1882, Shiken left his hometown for Tokyo once more; at the time, he was interested in studying Chinese classics more deeply and was also interested in political activities. Shiken was 21 years old. In modern society, this is a time of fluctuation when one thinks about their future, such as job hunting and career paths. Shiken may have similarly been in a period of searching for what he wanted to do and what he should do.

However, after joining the Hochi-sha, the publisher of the "Yubin Hochi Shinbun" where Yano served as president, Shiken followed Yano's advice and turned to Western literature. He is said to have read through world history, British history, Roman history, and Greek history on his own. With that knowledge and his foundation in classical Chinese, he assisted with Yano's historical novel "Keikoku Bidan" and began to be recognized as a writer.

As a reporter, Shiken went to Qing China in 1885 under Yano's instructions to write articles on the Japan-Qing negotiations and the conclusion of the Treaty of Tientsin. Furthermore, from the end of that year to the following summer, he went on a tour of Europe and America at the invitation of Yano, who was visiting Britain to observe and study constitutional politics and the newspaper industry. He traveled through various European countries with Yano, and there is a record that he read the English translation of "Les Misérables" at an inn in Germany. He returned home from San Francisco via London and New York.

After returning to Japan, Shiken took charge of writing for a newly established novel column in the newspaper, an idea proposed by Yano. This event became his starting point as a translator.

The works translated by Shiken include Hugo's "Detective Hubert" and "Kinrotan" (The Tale of the Golden Donkey), an abridged translation of "Metamorphoses" by the Roman author Apuleius, as well as works by the French science adventure writer Jules Verne (1828–1905). Shiken particularly liked Verne's works and handled the translation of twelve of them.

The most famous among them is "Fifteen Boys." This was a translation of Verne's work "Two Years' Vacation," serialized in 1896 in the comprehensive youth magazine "Shonen Sekai" published by Hakubunkan. It was a "relay translation" (re-translation) of an English version into Japanese. Set in New Zealand, the story begins when the mooring lines of a ship that students from Chairman School had boarded for a two-month summer cruise come loose, leaving them drifting in the Pacific Ocean. After surviving a two-week storm, they wash up on a deserted island. It is a drift narrative depicting the adventures of fifteen boys of different nationalities, aged 8 to 14, as they survive for two years on this deserted island and eventually return home safely.

The late Saburo Kuwahara, a former teacher at Keio Yochisha Elementary School and a renowned researcher of children's literature history, wrote, "Shiken's 'Fifteen Boys' can be called the pioneer of the boy adventure stories that followed." After the serialization ended, it was published as a book and became popular among many young people, and it is considered a classic of children's literature. Today, it continues to be widely and long read in the world of children's literature under the title "Two Years' Vacation" (Fifteen Boys Adrift) by other translators.

Shiken died young at the age of 36, the year after the serialization of "Fifteen Boys" ended. He had just begun working on a translation of Hugo's "Les Misérables," something he had long said he would do when he turned 40. The translation of "Les Misérables" that Shiken could not complete was taken over by Kuroiwa Ruiko, who was close to Shiken and had also studied at the Juku.