Takeshi Suzuki (academic)

Takeshi Suzuki (鈴木斌, 19322005) was a Japanese professor of Urdu.[1] He was known in Pakistan as Japan's "Baba-e-Urdu" (Father of Urdu) for his work in the promotion of the language.[2][3]

Career

Suzuki studied at the University of Karachi from 1960 to 1962 on a Pakistani government scholarship.[2] He joined the faculty of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) in 1963.[3] Among his students at TUFS was Hiroji Kataoka, a self-described failing student who, inspired by Suzuki's teaching, himself would go on to become a professor of Urdu and make important contributions to Urdu studies in Japan.[3][4] In 1996, the Pakistani government conferred the civil decoration Sitara-i-Imtiaz upon him.[5]

Death

After a long battle with cancer, Suzuki died on 14 January 2005. The Department of Urdu at the University of Karachi held a condolence ceremony in his memory.[2] He left behind an unfinished manuscript of a 20,000-word Urdu-Japanese dictionary, which is being finalised for publication by his colleague Hiroshi Hagita.[3] His personal library contained a number of rare books, which he left to TUFS after his death.[1]

Works

Textbooks

Suzuki's Urdu textbooks have become part of the standard Urdu curriculum in Japan.[2] Among his major pedagogical works are:[1]

Literary translations

In the late 1980s, Suzuki worked with his student Hiroji Kataoka on translation of the short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto into Japanese. He later collaborated with Muhammad Rais Alavi of the University of Karachi on translation of Japanese poetry into Urdu, including the Man'yōshū and Sankashū (a 12th-century waka collection).[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 萩田博 (September 2009), "土井久彌氏、鈴木斌氏旧蔵寄贈文献について [The Literary Documents Donated by the late Professors DOI Kyuya and SUZUKI Takeshi]" (PDF), 史資料ハブ/南アジア・東南アジア関係 史資料収集事業紹介 (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) 6 (8): 123–125, OCLC 295540859, retrieved 2010-05-28
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Japanese scholar of Urdu passes away", Dawn, 2005-01-16, retrieved 2010-05-28
  3. 1 2 3 4 Parekh, Rauf (2009-01-06), "Japan: Urdu’s other home", Dawn, retrieved 2010-05-28
  4. Parekh, Rauf (2008-08-26), "A Japanese scholar of Urdu", Dawn, retrieved 2010-05-28
  5. 1 2 Administration, University of Karachi, archived from the original on 2007-05-16, retrieved 2010-05-28
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