Edwin Augustus Cranston is a Professor of Japanese literature

Japanese literature

Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...

 in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. His primary research interest is the classical literature of Japan, especially traditional poetic forms.

History

Born on October 18, 1932, Cranston was raised on a farm in Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...

, until the age of ten, when he moved to Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 with his parents. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Arizona

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

 in Tucson in 1954. He served four years in the Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and then began graduate study in 1958 at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1962 he transferred to Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 and in 1966 earned a Ph.D. there in Japanese literature. He entered the Harvard faculty in 1965.

Contributions to Japan Studies

Cranston's career has centered around the translation and writing of poetry.

His dissertation, a translation of and commentary on the Izumi Shikibu

Izumi Shikibu

was a mid Heian period Japanese poet. She is a member of the . She was the contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, and Akazome Emon at the court of Joto Mon'in.-Early life:...

 diary

Diary

A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...

, was published in 1969 in the Harvard-Yenching Monograph series as The Izumi Shikibu Diary: A Romance of the Heian Court and remains the authoritative English version. http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/izumi.html

In 1993, Stanford University Press

Stanford University Press

The Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...

 released the first of his proposed six-volume anthology

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...

 of classical Japanese poetry. Titled A Waka Anthology, Volume One: The Gem-Glistening Cup http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?book_id=%203157, it was awarded a prize http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~rijs/people/faculty/e_cranston.html by the Japan-United States Friendship Commission http://www.jusfc.gov/index.asp and followed in 2006 by A Waka Anthology, Volume Two: Grasses of Remembrance. http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?book_id=4825

In 2009, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun

Order of the Rising Sun

The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government, created on April 10, 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight from the rising sun...

, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, by the government of Japan.

Cranston has also translated the work of poet Mizuno Ruriko.

External links