In Memoriam: Roy Andrew Miller (1924-2014)

[Paul Atkins]

I think many members of this list will be familiar with the works of Professor Miller, who passed away last year.  An obituary was recently posted on the website of the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, where he taught for almost twenty years.

https://asian.washington.edu/news/2015/01/05/roy-andrew-miller-professor-japanese-department-asian-languages-literature-1970-1989

Paul Atkins

[Richard Bowring]

Thank you for passing on this news.
Roy was nothing if not lively and we crossed swords a number of times, mainly in reviews. In person, he could be charming. He once regaled me with stories of the Brits in Japan just after the War and particularly their playfulness with language. One colonel returning to his room after a very heavy night out was heard to complain that he couldn’t “get the kagi in the kagihole.” I responded with the phrase I had learned from British businessmen in a similar situation deciding to have ‘ichi for the michi’.
Sic transit.
Richard Bowring

[William Bodiford]

Dear Paul Atkins:

Thank you for the link. The obituary cites numerous examples of
Miller's use of humorous criticisms in his book reviews. It somehow
omits the one that always stuck in my memory. And the review in which
it appears likewise is not included in the list of Miller's
publications. The remark comes from his review of Christopher Seeley: A
history of writing in Japan. Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1991, which appears in
Oriens Extremus 32 (1992): 171 - 182. The criticism is not directed at
Seeley, but at Yaeko Sato Haberin. Miller writes:

"Strangely enough, despite the enormous proliferation of Japanological
publications of every possible variety and subject-matter over the last
several decades, there have been only two full-scale attempts at the
study of the Japanese writing system especially focused upon its
history. The first was Y.S. Habein, The History of the Japanese Written
Language (Tokyo: Tokyo University Press, 1984), an incredible farrago of
fantasy and foolishness, published in all seriousness by Japan's most
prestigious academic institution. This book told us nothing about the
Japanese writing system or about anything else, for that matter. All
that it achieved was to pose the question --- as yet unanswered ---
whether such books appear because no one at the Tokyo University Press
can read English, or because no one there can read Japanese."

Cheers,

. . . . William Bodiford

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William M. Bodiford
UCLA Asian Lang & Cultures
BOX 951540; 290 Royce Hall
Los Angeles CA 90095-1540

Professor, Buddhist Studies and Japanese Religions
http://www.alc.ucla.edu/faculty/william-m-bodiford
Chair, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
http://www.alc.ucla.edu/
Phone: 310-206-8235
FAX: 310-825-8808
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These statements are my own, not those of the University of California.
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