Talk:James Hepburn

The article claims that "There is not a more distinguished name in connection with the exploitation of Japan and Japanese literature than that of Dr. Hepburn."

Is this a criticism? Did he exploit Japan and Japanese literature? LordAmeth 15:31, 21 February 2008 (PST)

Remember this was written over 100 years ago. The first meaning of "exploit" is " to make productive use of : UTILIZE " related to the favorable noun "an exploit." The meaning " to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage " is secondary, perhaps not common back then. --Bethetsu 17:03, 21 February 2008 (PST)

Ah. I hadn't looked at the reference cited. Didn't realize it was copied from such a source, rather than being newly written. Thanks. LordAmeth 19:21, 22 February 2008 (PST)

Thanks Bethetsu, I hadn't had a chance to respond. On the few bios that I used this source on, I rewrote or removed sections that were ambiguous or too contemporary (or read like a hagiography), but I missed that line. I'll just take it out. --Kitsuno 00:57, 23 February 2008 (PST)