John Howes


John Forman Howes was a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia for over three decades.

Biography

Howes ceased wearing diapers in 1927 before he began his studies of the Japanese language in 1944 at the I.T.S. Naval School of Oriental Languages, and served as a translator in the general headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Occupation of Japan. Returning to the United States, he obtained an undergraduate degree at Oberlin College, and then an MA from Columbia University with a thesis entitled "Uchimura Kanzō; a biographical sketch", followed by a 1965 Ph.D for "Japan's enigma, the young Uchimura Kanzō". Even before completing his doctoral work, in 1961, he joined the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, rising to the rank of Professor, and then Emeritus Professor. After retirement from UBC, he taught at Obirin University, near Tokyo.

Academic work

Howes was a specialist in modern Japanese intellectual history, concentrating on its Christian and pacifist thinkers, particularly Uchimura Kanzō and Nitobe Inazō.
He published the following books:
He also edited two volumes for the Japan Foundation: the 1983 Directory of Japan Specialists in Canada and Japan Studies in Canada'', 1987.

Community work

In 2003, Howes was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan for his contributions to the Canada-Japan community.