How to Write Japanese in the Middle Meiji Era: Case Study of a Handwritten Manuscript Translation of The Steam House

Abstract

This article explores how a translator, Morita Shiken（1861–1897）, wrote Japanese in the middle Meiji era（1868–1912）. It focuses on an analysis of Morita’s handwritten manuscript translation of a text titled The Steam House（Daihankai）, comparing it with a printed version published in 1889. In the Meiji era, or the time of modernization, many intellectuals argued about ways of writing Japanese because the Japanese people did not have a singular, concrete system of writing then. This means that translators in the era, including Morita, had several choices for their target texts（translated texts）in Japanese. Among the various aspects of a system for Japanese writing, this study focuses on a method of punctuation and the choice between Chinese characters and kana（a Japanese system of syllabic writing）. The analysis of Morita’s handwritten manuscript suggests that the translation process involved selecting particular ways of writing from among several options.