Ævintýraeyjurnar Japan og Ísland: Um Japansdvöl Nonna, 1937–1938

Abstract

Late in his career as an author, Jon Sveinsson, Nonni, realised his dream of visiting Japan and nowhere did he feel that he had met with a better reception than in Japan. This despite the fact that Jon was among the best known and most widely travelled Icelanders of his time, as his popular children’s books had been translated into around 30 languages. He arrived in the spring of 1937, to spend a year at the well-known Sophia University, run by his fellow Jesuits in Tokyo. The present article aims to cast light on Jon’s stay in Japan and where and how the writer and his works were discussed in contemporary Japanese newspapers and magazines. As Jon Sveinsson’s stay in Japan attracted a great deal of attention, media reports were both frequent and extensive. This article is based on sources gathered by the author from mainly Japanese archives and databases. These sources add a new perspective to previous research conducted on Jon Sveinsson’s Japan visit. Emphasis is also placed on the significance of the social and religious changes gaining prominence in Japan in the first half of the last century, which undoubtedly influenced the reception of the author and his work. The role and position of Sophia University in Japanese society is also examined, together with the complicated status of Christianity and the Jesuits in Japan in the years preceding World War II, which were characterised by ascending imperialism, nationalism, state Shinto and armed aggression on the Asian continent. Keywords: Jon Sveinsson – Nonni, Japan, reception (media coverage), travel literature, religion