Seidensticker, Edward, November 10, 1978

Edward Seidensticker (February 11, 1921 - August 26, 2007) was a renowned scholar and translator of Japanese literature, particularly known for his English version of The Tale of Genji (1976). Born in Colorado, he studied English at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1942, and then enrolled in the Navy Japanese Language School in Boulder. Seidensticker went on to serve with the U.S. Marines as a language officer. With the Marines, he remained in Japan working as a translator from 1945 to 1946, later returning to the United States to get his master’s in Foreign Affairs from Columbia University.

He then became a Foreign Services officer in 1948 for the State Department, which brought him back to Japan until 1950. While there, Seidensticker worked in the Diplomatic Section and Economic and Scientific Section of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). He then enrolled in Tokyo University to study literature, remaining in Japan until 1962. Upon returning to the U.S., Seidensticker taught at Stanford University and the University of Michigan before becoming a professor of Japanese literature at Columbia in 1978, where he remained until his retirement in 1985.

In 1975, he received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, Third Class from the Emperor of Japan. Edward Seidensticker would spend the rest of his life living between Hawaii and Japan before he passed away at the age of 86 while in Tokyo.