As I was reading the Winter volume of R.H. Blyth’s classic 4 volume study of Haiku, a colleague of mine, the genial Chiaki Kaise noticed what I was doing and mentioned that he had been a student of Blyth’s as a young man. I asked him to write a brief memoir about Blyth and just today he gave me the sketch below. Kaise sensei, I might add, has one of the clearest and most precise pronunciations of English I have encountered in Japan. After you read this you will understand why.

R. H. Blyth as an English Teacher

Before I began to learn English at the University of Tokyo, I had known the name of Reginald H. Blyth, because I used to listen to his voice on old-fashioned 78 records when I was still a highschool student. These gramaphone records for students of English were first put on sale in 1951. I immediately bought them to practice my English. Professor Blyth’s pronunciation was extremely clear, beginning with short sentences and short stories which I imitated over and over again from beginning to end. The basis of my English, especially my pronunciation of English, is due mainly to his excellent recordings. In this way, I began to take much interest in learning English. At that time, Professor Blyth was a tutor of the Japanese Crown Prince (now the Emporer), and that is why he was asked by the record company to read English model pronunciation.

Then it was in 1956 when I was in the third year at the University of Tokyo that I personally met Professor Blyth in class. His way of speaking English was as clear as ever and his talking very instructive. He taught us mainly English poems, often citing similar examples from Japanese haiku poets. Also he suggested reading Ralph Waldo Emerson in class and we read a few pages of Emerson’s writings at every meeting. Professor Blyth was himself a poet and a philosopher. Our class had only 15 students and we were all enthused by his lecture every time. This is a long time ago, but I still remember his talks and his teachings, and his influence on me.

In conversation Kaise sensei mentioned that Blyth was considered a bit eccentric in his mannerisms by his students. He usually rode a bicycle to class, and often he would sit for minutes at a time in silent meditation before he began each lesson. I thank Professor Kaisei for sharing his memories with us. It would be interesting to try to find the set of recordings that he mentions and to hear Blyth’s voice.