Shunpei Mizuno

Shunpei Mizuno (水野俊平 Mizuno Shunpei, born 1968) is a Japanese professor who used to write under the pen name Shunsui Nohira (野平俊水 Nohira Shunsui). His primary area of writing is on Korean culture; he has also published instructional books for Korean learners of Japanese.[1]

Early life and education

Mizuno was born 1968 in Muroran, Hokkaidō. By his own testimony, he became interested in Korea as a middle school student, after seeing hangul, a Korean characters for the first time. He attended Noboribetsu South High School and then Nara Prefecture's Tenri University, where he majored in Korean language; in 1990, he entered into a Ph.D. programme in Korean literature at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea. After completing his dissertation, he remained at the same university, where he took up a post as a lecturer in 1995. He later earned Ph.D. degree and became a professor in Chonnam National University where he had taught Japanese language to Korean students through out the years. [2]

Life in South Korea

Professor Mizuno became well known in South Korea for his command of Jeolla dialect and made frequent television and lecture appearances, often speaking about Japanese-Korean relations and the influence of Korea on ancient Japan; he was described as one of the most well-known foreigners in South Korea. His pen name was known to the Korean media, and it had been reported as early as 2001 that he had published books critical of Korea, such as his 1996 How to write anti-Japanese novels in Korea or his 2001 Outbreak of a Korea-Japan War?, which he acknowledged took an aggressive approach to their subjects and could be offensive to Koreans; however, he retained popularity as a commentator. He stated that his goal in writing was to help both Japanese and Koreans overcome their historical conflict and develop closer relations.[3][4][5] While living there, he married a Korean woman from Jeollabuk-do, with whom he had three sons. In total, he lived in South Korea for 15 years.[3]

Return to Japan

In June 2005, South Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reported more shockingly on the books and essays in which he had submitted under his pen name Nohira , including publications in rightist magazines; those of the works under his pen name were described as "degrading" to Korea, in contrast to those he wrote under his real name.[1] One of the main targets of criticism was his 2002 book Koreans' false history of Japan.[1][6] A few months later, he returned to Japan to take up a post as a lecturer in Korean language at the Hokkai School of Commerce in Sapporo.[4][7]

In the past years, people accepted him as one of the best known foreigners they have ever had. He was known as very kindhearted person who was being gentle to others; also, there is a report that he had donated money to some colleges. As people respected him as he became well known he was being casted as a lecturer in many TV channels and advertisement. However, he was revealed that his generosity was pretension as his intention was for achieving his fame and for a huge profit . Despite his kindness behavior, he was later revealed that he is actually coldhearted, ambitious, and evil person.[8] After Mizuno left Korea, his rumors were spread. There is an evidence that he abandoned his families and fled to Japan. When he returned to Japan, Mizuno wrote many works that described as degrading to Korea. As they learned the truth Koreans who treated him friendly in the past started to feel grudged against him. Even one of the outsiders were critique of him. "He's the most evil person that I've known for the first time. How come he is being so disrespectful to the country where he had received so much benefits?" Sam Hammington, a New Zealand born Australian actor based in South Korea said angrily.

Publications

General

Academic papers

Language instruction

References

  1. 1 2 3 "‘친한파’미즈노 교수, 日 극우잡지에 수차례 한국 비하 글 기고 ('Pro-Korean' professor Mizuno submitted essays which degrade Korea to Japanese ultra-rightist magazines)". Dong-A Ilbo Magazine. 2005-06-24. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
  2. ↑ "光州の人気者 方言巧み「面白い日本人」(Popular people in Gwangju: The "amusing Japanese" who's good at the local dialect)". Hokkaidō Shimbun. 2002-03-27. Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  3. 1 2 Kim, Yeong-geun (2001-07-20). "｢日本の古典を読めば、韓国語が見えるんです｣ ("If you read the Japanese classics, you'll see Korean language")". Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  4. 1 2 "全羅道なまりで有名な水野俊平教授、近く日本帰国へ (Professor Shunpei Mizuno, famous in Jeolla dialect, soon to return to Japan)" (in Japanese). Chosun Ilbo. 2005-10-20. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
  5. ↑ Lee, Kyung-eun (2003-03-20). "Writer Exposes Anti-Japanese Prejudices". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  6. ↑ "ソウルからヨボセヨ 韓国を去った人 (Hello from Seoul: A person who left South Korea)". Sankei Shimbun. 2006-03-18. p. 5.
  7. ↑ "「韓タメ！ＤＸ」". Fuji Television. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  8. ↑ citation needed
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