is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 professor of comparative linguistics

Comparative linguistics

Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness....

, specializing in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

  and Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

, and emeritus professor at Tokyo University. He studied comparative grammar under Kōzu Harushige at the department of linguistics

Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

 at Tokyo University, and graduated in 1952. He studied abroad under a scholarship grant at Vienna University and returned to become assistant, and then full, professor at his alma mater

Alma mater

Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

. He was awarded his doctorate in September 1978 on the subject of kinship

Kinship

Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....

 terminology in Indo-European languages

Indo-European languages

The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...

. On his retirement, he subsequently taught at Hosei University

Hosei University

is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan.The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha , established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō . This was from 1883 headed by Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade, and was heavily influenced by the French legal tradition...

. He is one of Japan’s leading scholars in Indo-European studies, with a particular interest in etymology

Etymology

Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...

.

Publications

• Gengogaku no tanjō: hikaku gengogaku shoshi, Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo 1978
• Kotoba no seikatsushi、Heibonsha, Tokyo 1987
• Kotoba no shintaishi, Heibonsha, Tokyo 1990
• In’ōgo no kokyō o saguru, Iwanami Shinsho, Tokyo 1995
• Girishago to ratengo Sanseidō, Tokyo 1998
• Ratengo. Sono katachi to kokoro, Sanseidō, Tokyo 2005

Works in collaboration with others

• Uwano Zendō et al., Gengogaku Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1993

See also

• Kōzu Harushige