August Karl Reischauer
August Karl Reischauer was an American Presbyterian missionary, best known for his work in Japan.
Life and work
August Karl Reischauer was born in Jonesboro, Illinois. He graduated from Hanover College in 1902 and from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1905 before going to Japan.His interest in the relationship of Christianity to the other religions led to the publication "Studies in Japanese Buddhism" in 1917. He also worked on eliminating duplication of missionary activities and consolidating the church seminaries. In 1918 he founded the Tōkyō Woman’s Christian University and in 1920, together with his wife, the school for the deaf and mute “Nihon Rōwa Gakkō”.
Reischauer left Japan in 1941 and taught for a number of years Comparative Religious Studies at Union [Theological Seminary in the City of New York|Union Theological Seminary] in New York City.
His first son was Robert Karl Reischauer, who was a scholar on Japanese culture and was killed during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai. His second son, Edwin O. Reischauer, was a well-known Japanologist and from 1961 to 1966 Ambassador of the United States in Japan.
Published monographs
- Studies in Japanese Buddhism
- The Task in Japan: A Study of Modern Missionary Imperatives
- Ōjō yōshū - Collected Essays on Birth into Paradise
Literature
- S. Noma : Reischauer, August Karl. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993,, p. 1250.
Category:1971 deaths
Presbyterian missionaries">Presbyterianism">Presbyterian missionaries
Category:University and college founders
Category:Scholars of comparative religion
Category:Tokyo Woman's Christian University
Category:Hanover College alumni
Category:Union Theological Seminary faculty
Category:People from [Union County, Illinois]
August Karl