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Hitoshi Igarashi

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Japanese writer and translator (1947–1991)

Hitoshi Igarashi
Born10 June 1947
Died11 July 1991(1991-07-11) (aged 44)
Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Notable worksTranslation of The Satanic Verses
SpouseMasako Igarashi [ja]

Hitoshi Igarashi (五十嵐 一, Igarashi Hitoshi, 10 June 1947 – 11 July 1991) was a Japanese scholar of Arabic and Persian literature and history and the Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. He was murdered in the wake of fatwas issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran – who, by the time of Igarashi's murder, had died – calling for the death of the book's author and "those involved in its publication." His murder remains unsolved.

Early life and education

Igarashi was born in 1947. He completed his doctoral programme in Islamic art at the University of Tokyo in 1976, and was a research fellow at the Royal Academy of Iran until 1979.

Career

Igarashi was an associate professor of comparative Islamic culture at the University of Tsukuba. He translated Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine and Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and wrote books on Islam, including The Islamic Renaissance and Medicine and Wisdom of the East.

Death

See also: The Satanic Verses § Violence, assassinations, and attempted murders

In early 1989, Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, calling for the death of "the author of the Satanic Verses book, which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Qur'an". In March 1991, Khomeini's successor Ali Khamenei issued a further fatwa and multimillion-dollar bounty for the death of "any of those involved in its publication who are aware of its content". In 1990, one year after the issuing of these fatwas, Igarashi and his publisher Gianni Palma held a press conference in Tokyo to announce their translation into Japanese of The Satanic Verses. Shi'a Muslims attended the event in order to protest the publication, and midway through, a Pakistani Muslim rushed onto the stage and attempted to assault Palma. The attacker was arrested and deported.

A year and a half later, Igarashi was stabbed repeatedly in the face and arms by an unknown assailant and died. His body was found on 12 July 1991 in his office at the University of Tsukuba.

In 2006, the statute of limitations on the stabbing expired. Kenneth M. Pollack alleged in The Persian Puzzle that the attack was a covert operation by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hitoshi Igarashi (1947-1991)". Fukimimi. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. Helm, Leslie (13 July 1991). "Translator of 'Satanic Verses' Slain". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  3. "One person's story". OMID. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  4. ^ Weismann, Steven R. (13 June 1991). "Japanese Translator of Rushdie Book Found Slain". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  5. Jomhuri Eslami, 1991, 16 March
  6. Reid, T. R. (13 July 1991). "'SATANIC VERSES' TRANSLATOR FOUND SLAIN". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  7. Thomas, Cullen (22 February 2015). "Iran's Cold Cases Are Coming Back to Haunt Us". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 13 July 2022. In 2006 the 15-year statute of limitations on his murder expired. Hitoshi's wife, Masako, was still crying out for justice, pressing the Japanese police not to give up on her husband's case.
  8. Komamura, Yoshishige. "（3ページ目）迷宮入りの「悪魔の詩」訳者殺人、問題にされた2つのポイント【平成の怪事件簿】". デイリー新潮 (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 August 2022.
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