{{short description|Canadian academic}} {{About|the twentieth-century professor|the eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century painter|John Howes (painter)}} {{Infobox person | name = John Forman Howes | image = John Forman Howes at the Conferment of Decoration by the Government of Japan.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Prof. John Howes at the Conferment of Decoration by the Government of Japan in 2003 | birth_date = June 19, 1924 | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=y|2017|2|4|1924|6|19}} | death_place = Richmond, British Columbia, Canada | education = | occupation = Professor of Japanese Studies (University of British Columbia), Obirin University (Tokyo) }}
'''John Forman Howes''' (June 19, 1924 – February 4, 2017)<ref>[http://viaf.org/processed/LC%7Cn%20%2079053377 LC authority record]</ref> was a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for over three decades.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asia.ubc.ca/group/emeriti/?s&alphabet&orderby=menu_order&order=ASC&profile_cct_faculty_title&profile_cct_student_degree_type&profile_cct_specialization_area&post_type=profile_cct |title=Department of Asian Studies Emeriti Directory |access-date=2013-05-28 |archive-date=2017-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104090959/http://asia.ubc.ca/group/emeriti/?s&alphabet&orderby=menu_order&order=ASC&profile_cct_faculty_title&profile_cct_student_degree_type&profile_cct_specialization_area&post_type=profile_cct |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Biography== Howes 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".<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9746873 Worldcattitle listing for thesis ]</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.asjapan.org/web.php/speakers/howes The Asiatic Society of Japan]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asia.ubc.ca/department-2/department/history/ |title=History of the Department of Asian Studies |access-date=2013-05-28 |archive-date=2014-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721231229/http://www.asia.ubc.ca/department-2/department/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> After retirement from UBC, he taught at Obirin University, near Tokyo.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asia.ubc.ca/people1/john-howes/ |title=A Bio of Dr Howes by Roy Starrs of Union College |access-date=2013-05-28 |archive-date=2015-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713224344/http://www.asia.ubc.ca/people1/john-howes/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Academic work== Howes was a specialist in modern Japanese intellectual history, concentrating on its Christian and pacifist thinkers, particularly Uchimura Kanzō (1861-1930) and Nitobe Inazō (1862-1933).
He published the following books: *''Japan's Modern Prophet: Uchimura Kanzō, 1861-1930.'' Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2005. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 600 libraries.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/923441850 WorldCat book entry]</ref> * (editor) ''Nitobe Inazô: Japan's Bridge Across the Pacific.'' Boulder: Westview Press, 1995.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31969066 WorldCat title entry]</ref> *(with Nobuya Bamba) ''Pacifism in Japan: The Christian and Socialist Tradition'' (Vancouver: UBC Press and Kyoto: Minerva Press, 1978). According to WorldCat, the book is held in 498 libraries<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/236350705 WorldCat book entry]</ref> *''Tradition in Transition, The Modernization of Japan'' (New York: Macmillan, 1975),<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2065183 WorldCat title record]</ref> *''Japanese Religion in the Meiji Era'' (Tokyo: Ministry of Education, 1956). 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asia.ubc.ca/people1/john-howes/ |title=A Bio of Dr Howes by Roy Starrs of Union College |access-date=2013-05-28 |archive-date=2015-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713224344/http://www.asia.ubc.ca/people1/john-howes/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howes, John}} Category:1924 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:Oberlin College alumni Category:Columbia University alumni Category:American expatriates in Japan Category:Academics from Chicago