   thumb|250px|blyth in 1953. reginald horace blyth (3 december 1898 â 28 october 1964) was an english author and devotee of japanese culture. ==early life== blyth was born in essex, england, the son of a railway clerk. he attended cleveland road primary school, in ilford, then the county high school (later ilford county high school).the genius of haiku - readings from r h blyth, the british haiku society, 1994, p3 isbn 0 9522397 0 1 in 1916, at the height of world war i, he was imprisoned at wormwood scrubs, as a conscientious objector, before working on the home office scheme at princetown work centre in the former and future dartmoor prison. after the war he attended the university of london, where he read english and from which he graduated in 1923, with honours. he adopted a vegetarian lifestyle which he maintained throughout his life. blyth played the flute, made musical instruments, and taught himself several european languages. he was particularly fond of the music of j.s. bach. in 1924, he received a teaching certificate from london day training college. the same year, he married annie bercovitch, a university friend. some accounts say they moved to india, where he taught for a while until he became unhappy with british colonial rule. other scholars dismiss this episode, claiming it to have been invented by blyth's mentor suzuki daisetsu. (pinnington, 1997). ==korea (1925â1935)== in 1925, the blyths moved to korea (then under japanese rule), where blyth became assistant professor of english at keijo university in seoul. while in korea, blyth began to learn japanese and chinese, and studied zen under the master hanayama taigi of myÅshin-ji keijo betsuin (seoul). in 1933, he informally adopted a korean student, paying for his studies in korea and london. (pinnington, 1997). his wife returned to england alone in 1934. he later followed her and they were divorced shortly thereafter, in 1935. ==japan (1936â1964)== having returned to seoul in 1936, blyth remarried in 1937, to a japanese woman named kishima tomiko (pinnington, 1997), with whom he later had two daughters, nana blyth and harumi blyth. he moved to kanazawa in japan, and took a job as english teacher at the fourth higher school (later kanazawa university). when britain declared war on japan in december 1941, following the japanese bombing of pearl harbor, bringing japan into world war ii, blyth was interned as a british enemy alien. although he expressed his sympathy for japan and sought japanese citizenship, this was denied. during his internment his extensive library was destroyed in an air raid. after the war, blyth worked diligently with the autho
1898_births 1964_deaths Alumni_of_the_University_of_London British_Japanologists British_conscientious_objectors British_expatriates_in_Japan British_expatriates_in_Korea English_male_writers People_educated_at_Ilford_County_High_School People_from_Essex