Makoto Hayasaka: The Japanese will be interested to read about Francysk Skaryna

Francysk Skaryna, Photo: bacian.livejournal.com

In 2013, a book will be published in Japan about the history of the Belarusan border region, from the time of Polatsk emergence to our days.

The book is written in Japanese. Its author, Doctor of History, Pr. Makoto Hayasaka, teaches at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and is engaged at the same time in the research studies of Belarusan history.

- My professional activity at the University is associated with the history of information science, told Pr. Makoto Hayasaka to the EuroBelarus Information Service. I’m trying to write in a catching manner, I try to present the historical facts in plain language. Therefore, issues such as, for example, the activity of Francysk Skaryna and related to him history of printing are very important points in the history of information science. The Japanese will be interested to know about this piece of history of the art of the book printing.

Apart from this, the Japanese researcher is interested in the activities of the Belarusan political figure and linguist Branislaw Tarashkyevich.

At 2nd International Congress of Belarusan Studies, Makoto Hayasaka spoke on the topic, "Political Activities of Branislaw Tarashkyevich in the Context of Far East".

- A personal story has contributed to my passion for the Belarusan history, told the researcher. Fifteen years ago, I accidentally met in Vilnius a niece of Tarashkyevich. Before that I did not even know who the man was. And after the meeting, I became interested. She gave me books about Tarashkyevich, written by Arseny Lis and Alexander Berman (in Polish). That's how my interest in Tarashkyevich has begun.

According to the professor, he has a lot of work at the university, so only a few years ago, he again began to do research related to Tarashkyevich, to establish contacts with Belarusan scientists. Japanese researcher was helped in many ways by Professor of the EHU Academic Department of History Alexander Smolenchuk who supplied the colleague with necessary literature.

- I’ve mentioned Tarashkyevich in my report only in the context of historical reflection and in a comparative perspective of 1920-30ss’ period, said Pr. Makoto. Given the political activities of Tarashkyevich, I pointed to a similar fate of the right wing of the Japan Socialist Party of that time, that is, of the Japanese elite in general, including the Japanese Communist Party. We can draw a conclusion about a similar tragic fate of intellectuals of the two countries, Belarus and Western Japan.

The professor noted that in the Far East, there are no historical sources about Tarashkyevich, and suggested that it would be possible to find some interesting information about Tarashkyevich related to his work in the International Agricultural Institute in Moscow, owned by the Communist International party (the Comintern). In September 1933 Branislaw Tarashkyevich found himself in Moscow as a result of political prisoners’ exchange between Poland and the USSR. He was the head of the department of Poland and the Baltic states in the International Agricultural Institute which staff was engaged in issues related to Japan and the Far East as part of the Comintern strategy. Makoto Hayasaka regretted that the archives of the Comintern in Moscow are not in the public domain, and it prevents further research.