2021年5月

Birthday

Friday, May 13 1921: Comedy actor Toru YURI was born

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, May 13 Comedy actor Toru YURI was born in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. He went to Tokyo and joined Moulin Rouge Shinjuku-za Theater, but he was called up for military service by the Army in 1943 (Showa 18) and went to the North China Front. In 1956 (Showa 31), he formed the comedy group “derailment trio” and later appeared in popular TV dramas such as ‘This is the time’ and ‘Kantaro Terauchi Family’ besides movies. Toru Yuri originally admired Piston Horiguchi and wanted to become a professional boxer. Because of this relationship, he was also famous as a teacher of “Hachirō Tako” who was active in...
Social

Thursday, May 12 1921: The poet Kozo TAKEUCHI was born

1921 (Taisho 10) Thursday, May 12: The poet Kozo TAKEUCHI was born in Fukiagecho, Ujiyamada City, Mie Prefecture (Present Fukiage, Ise City). He went on to Uji-Yamada Junior High School under the old system from Meirin Elementary School, which is famous for being the alma mater of baseball player Eiji Sawamura. 1940 (Showa 15) I went to Tokyo with a dream of becoming a movie director, and entered the film department of the prestigious Nihon University Specialty Division, but due to the Pacific War, 2 years later I graduated early and was drafted into the army. I was assigned to the paratroops in Tsukuba and received strict training when I...
Social

Tuesday, May 10 1921: Zhou Zuoren introduced Japanese Classical Poetry

1921 (Taisho 10) Tuesday, May 10: Zhou Zuoren, a younger brother of Lu Xun and a writer, published an article titled “Japanese poetry” in the Chinese magazine ‘Monthly Novels’. The feature and history of Japanese haiku, senryu and waka were introduced, and 13 Japanese haiku poems and 11 Japanese waka poems were translated for the first time in China. Zhou pointed out the “poetic atmosphere” of Japan and the “artistic sensibility” of the Japanese people. Zhou described the characteristics of Japanese culture as follows:. The atmosphere of poetry that prevails throughout Japan is a characteristic of Japan. The causes are the following two. The first is the relationship between climate...
Politics

Monday, May 9 1921: Crown Prince Hirohito arrived in London.

1921 (Taisho 10) Monday, May 9: Crown Prince Hirohito arrived in London. The group left Yokohama for Europe on March 3 at the Osetsukan Katori port and finally arrived in London in more than two months. During the voyage, he enjoyed judo, bridge, poker, and other sports with fellow sailors Hachiro Saionji and Yoshinori Futara. Prince Hirohito, who had not acquired enough Western manners by that time, received a special lesson in manners on board the ship from his companions, Kaninnomiya and Sutemi CHINDA. On the same day I arrived in London for a state dinner at Buckingham Palace, I met for the first time with King George V, and...
Social

Sunday, May 8 1921: Merriman Colbert Harris, a missionary, died

1921 (Taisho 10) Sunday, May 8: Merriman Colbert Harris, a missionary, died in the Harris house of Aoyama Gakuin University at the age of 75. Harris was born in Ohio in 1846. He served in the Union army during the Civil War. After the war, he graduated from Allegheny College and married Flora Lydia Best. In 1873, he came to Japan as a missionary of the American Methodist Episcopal Church (1873) with his wife. In 1874, he went to Hakodate, where he taught Christianity and also served as consul to the United States (1874). He lived in Japan for more than 50 years and had a great influence on Sapporo...
Birthday

Saturday, May 7 1921: Tokuji Kawasaki, a professional baseball player and manager, is born.

1921 (Taisho 10) Saturday, May 7 Tokuji Kawasaki, a professional baseball player and manager, is born in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. He entered Ryukoku Junior High School, but failed the entrance examination for Army Cadet School and went on to Kurume Commercial School. He became the best 8 player as the ace player of Kurume Commerce in the Fukuoka tournament at Koshien in summer. After graduating, he went to Manchuria and joined Fushun Coal Mine. In 1940, he participated in the Inter-City Baseball Tournament held by the Mantetsu Club and drew attention by defeating in his first match the championship candidate “Fujikura Electric Wire”, who had won 2 consecutive championships. (Showa...
Politics

Friday, May 6 1921: Toshitsune KAWAKAMI assumed the post of the first Polish Minister in Warsaw.

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, May 6: Toshitsune KAWAKAMI assumed the post of the first Polish Minister in Warsaw. Poland was an emerging country that gained independence the year before. Kawakami was born as the first son of Sentaro KAWAKAMI, a feudal retainer of the Murakami Domain with a stipend of 150 koku, in Iino, Uehommachi, Niigata Village. He studied at hanko “Kajukan” and graduated from the Department of Russian language at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1884 (Meiji 17). He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a trade official, and while he was stationed in Vladivostok, he commanded Japanese residents in Russia to escape when the Russo-Japanese War...
Art

Friday, May 6, 1921: Terukata IKEDA died

On Friday, May 6, 1921(Taisho 10), Japanese-style painter Terukata IKEDA died. His real name was Shoshiro IKEDA. His wife, Shoen IKEDA, was also a famous female painter, and she was known as “dancing artist”, having produced many works together. He was good at Bijinga and Fuzokuga, and he also drew many woodblock frontispieces such as illustrations for magazines and newspapers and books. His wife died of tuberculosis at the age of 31 in 1917 (Taisho 6). Her husband died of tuberculosis at the age of 38. His grave is in Yanaka Cemetery in Yanaka, Taito Ward.
Economy

Thursday, May 5 1921: HSBC Shanghai building construction begins

1921 (Taisho 10) Thursday, May 5 HSBC building construction begins in the Shanghai Joint Concession. The ceremony began at noon and was attended by 600 people including HSBC President George Edkins and Hong Kong Governor Edward Stubbs. The building is still popular as a tourist attraction in Shanghai. The author of this blog was stationed in Shanghai during his time at Mitsui & Co., and often visited Wainan. The former HSBC Shanghai Branch Building is one of the most solemn and impressive buildings in the world. In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party occupied Shanghai, but surprisingly, HSBC continued to operate in Shanghai until 1955. However, it was finally transferred to...
Birthday

Tuesday, May 3 1921: Chikako Asaka was born.

1921 (Taisho 10) Tuesday, May 3 Chikako, the fifth daughter of Count Takatsuku Todo, the 13th head of the Todo family and first son of Takakiyo Todo, the last lord of the Tsu domain of Ise, was born. When Chikako was 16 years old and a student at the Girls’ School, she got engaged to Prince Takahiko, the eldest son of Prince Yasuhiko Asakanomiya. She married in 1938 (Showa 13) and had 1 son and 2 daughters, but the Asakanomiya family renounced their membership from the Imperial Family in 1947 (Showa 22) after the war and called herself Chikako Asaka thereafter. 1950 (Showa 25) Tuberculosis developed, and 2 years later,...