Donald Lawrence Keene ( June 18 , 1922 – February 24 , 2019 ) was an American-born Japanese scholar , historian , teacher , writer and translator of Japanese literature . Keene was University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University , where he taught for over fifty years . Soon after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , he retired from Columbia , moved to Japan permanently , and acquired citizenship under the name . His poetic is , which he occasionally also used as a nickname
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Donald Keene