Henry D. Thoreau and William Morris:Common Factors

I stated in my previous column that my discussions on civilization　are composed of Henry D. Thoreau (1817-1862) and William Morris (1834-1896). Some of my readers may be suspicious of selection of these two thinkers. I would like to explain the reasons to the readers as well as for my memos.

Several years ago, I was asked by a woman “ What are common between Henry D. Thoreau and William Morris ?” I could not answer properly at that time. I did not intend to adopt these two for their common factors.

However, once I become cooler, there are common factors between these two in several ways.
Followings are comparison items : the case of Thoreau : the case of Morris :

Composer : Poems : Poems and romances :
Thinker : Resulted in journals : Resulted in correspondences :
Translator : Translation of Greek and Roman poems : Translation of Saga :
Teacher : Enthusiastic school teacher and home teacher : Teacher in socialism :
Traveler : Travel to Cape Cod and Main wood : Travel to Iceland :
Preserver : Observation of flora and fauna : Preservation of ancient architecture :
Speaker : In Concord and other cities : In London and other cities :
Rebel against civilization : Civil Disobedience : Doubt on mass production and mass consumption
Entrepreneur : Co-manager of a pencil manufacturer : Manager of Morris and Co. :
Engineer : Surveyor : Engineer in dyeing and craft :
Influence onto Japan : On Kenji Miyazawa : On Muneyosi Yanagi and Shirakaba school:

As stated above, these two thinkers have left us fruits valuable for further inspection, which might be common within great contemporary thinkers .

The woman who asked me “ What are common between Henry D. Thoreau and William Morris ?”successively asked me “Is it a rebel to vilization ? ”
Ah, she had a right answer for her first question. Rebelling to nineteenth century civilization, they were spinning thought for nature, for people and for Utopia. 　　(November, 2006)