| NOTA |
(★)(Dr. Ponsonby Fane, as the biography in the book ´STUDIES IN SHINTO AND SHRINES´ states, checked all difficult historical points of contradiction, interpretations and translations with Japanese scholars, and if necessary ´spent a great deal of time and money in making thorough investigation.´ Since he had private means, he was able to devote his full time and resources to this study with the reward of becoming an authority on the Imperial Family and Shintoism respected by many of the Japanese scholars acquainted with his work. His services to the Imperial Family, as well as his research into the national religion of that time, brought him honours from the Japanese Government. Dr. Ponsonby was a close friend of the late Dr. Thomas Baty who, together with many other friends, helped gather the writings for publication after his death in 1937. (A passage from a review of ´STUDIES IN SHINTO AND SHRINES´ as appeared in ASAHI EVENING NEWS, Monday, June 21, 1954) ◆´´... Our late friend Dr. Richard Ponsonby-Fane loved Japan from early in life ; he valued her traditions and history ; he held in high esteem the Deities, Sovereigns and people of Japan ; he became deeply attached to and realized the natural features and life of Japan ; he grasped the spirit of Japan to such an extent that no ordinary Japanese can rival him in this respect ; he had a deep appreciation of the good and beautiful customs of Japan, and one can appreciate clearly from his life and the course of his study that he would set out his observations and experiences with great accuracy in his works, great or small. I am sure that most of the colleagues and companions in his studies are alike convinced of this fact. He resided permanently in his beloved Kyoto, which had been the capital of Japan for more than a thousand years, building a house of purely Japanese style, congenial to his taste, at a place in Kamikamo near the holy precincts of the Kamikamo shrine ...´[Izuru Shimmura]) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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