Shōichi Watanabe

Shōichi Watanabe (渡部 昇一, Watanabe Shōichi; 15 September 1930 – 17 April 2017) was a Japanese scholar of English and one of Japan's cultural critics. He is known for ultranationalist historical negationism.

He was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. A graduate of Sophia University, where he obtained his Master's degree, he completed his doctorate at University of Münster in 1958. Two volumes of autobiography on his years in Germany narrate his varied experiences during this period. Returning to his alma mater, he became successively lecturer, assistant professor and full professor, until his retirement. He served as emeritus professor at the same university until his death. A passionate book-collector, he was chairman of the Japan Bibliophile Society. His personal collection of books on English philology (see Bibliography) was perhaps his most important contribution to the field of English philology in Japan, containing many rare items.