One consideration for the Japanese language during the early stage of the Meiji era

Arinori Mori’s arguments for the abolition of Japanese and the adoption of English

Abstract

This paper explores whether Arinori Mori (1847-1889) really proposed a “Japanese abolitionism, English adoption” theory, with a focus on Mori’s correspondence with the American linguist William Dwight Whitney (1827-1894), which has often been cited and criticized as the origin of Mori’s argument.