2021年

Birthday

Monday, April 18, 1921: Pianist Mayako MUROI was born.

1921 (Taisho 10) Monday, April 18 “oldest active pianist” Mayako MUROI was born. She started playing the piano at the age of six, and studied under TAKAORI Miyaji (Miyaji Takaori), a leading prewar pianist who is also famous for teaching the piano to Her Majesty the Empress Michiko. 1941 (Showa 16) Graduated Tokyo Music School with top honors. Graduated in 1943 (Showa 18) under Professor Leonid Kreutzer. 1945 (Showa 20) Debuted as a soloist at Hibiya Public Hall in January at a concert of the Japan Symphony Orchestra, the predecessor of the current NHK Symphony Orchestra. After that, many performances were held, and it is said that he goes to...
Social

Sunday, April 17, 1921: Kamako YOSHIKAWA died at the age of 31

On Sunday, April 17, 1921, count’s daughter Kamako YOSHIKAWA, who lived in seclusion due to a scandal at Chiba Shinju, died of peritonitis at the age of 31. Kamako was the fourth daughter of Count Akimasa YOSHIKAWA. Hiroharu YOSHIKAWA, who married Kamako and became the husband of Yoshikawa’s daughter, was the second son of Arasuke SONE under the former family name of Hiroharu SONE. He was an onzoshi (Current Hitotsubashi University) who entered Mitsui from Tokyo Higher Commercial School. Kanji was not well behaved and often visited his mistress’ home, and his actual marriage with Kamako soon collapsed. Kanji invited Rikusuke KURAMOCHI, who had been a driver of Mitsui &...
Art

Saturday, April 16, 1921, Sessei OKAZAKI died.

On Saturday, April 16, 1921, Sessei OKAZAKI, a caster, died at the age of 67. His real name was Shojiro. He was born in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City in 1854. His father was Sadaho OKAZAKI, a kamashi (tea kettle caster). At the age of 21, he moved to Tokyo to study minting and became a disciple of Suzuki Masakichi, a caster. It was exhibited at the 1889 Paris World Exposition and received a high evaluation. The following year, 1890, he became a teacher of the Department of Casting at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts by Okakura Tenshin. He continued to produce works energetically, refined his casting techniques, and undertook...
Academic

Friday, April 15, 1921: New Woman’s high school “Jiyu Gakuen” founded

Friday, April 15, 1921: Christian woman thinker Motoko HANI and her husband, the former editor-in-chief of Hochi Shinbun, Yoshikazu HANI, founded Jiyu Gakuen in Takada-cho, Kitatoshima County, Tokyo Prefecture in order to practice their ideal education based on the spirit of Protestantism. The school was named after the New Testament ‘Gospel of John’ 8: 32 “Truth frees you”. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who agreed with the purpose of Jiyu Gakuen, undertook the design of many school buildings together with his disciple Arata ENDO. The central building, whose design was started in January 1921, is decorated with distinctive geometric patterns and still exists today as Jiyu Gakuen Myo-nichikan. At the...
Economy

Thursday, April 14, 1921: Mitsui will cut off 300 employees.

On Thursday, April 14, 1921, it was reported that Mitsui ordered 300 employees to stay at home because of the deepening post-war depression. This is 7.5% of the total 4,000 employees. The company subpoenaed 1/3 of U.S. branch employees and abolished special allowances, reducing salaries by 2 to 30%. The number of new graduates hired has been reduced from last year to just under 10. Mitsubishi also has 15 new graduates. It is becoming increasingly difficult for university graduates to find jobs. Yoshizuka Koichi, author of this blog, joined Mitsui as a new graduate in 1996, and at that time there were 160 people in her class. In 2020, it...
Social

Tuesday, April 12, 1921: Shiba Zojo-ji Temple new main hall

On Tuesday, April 12, 1921, the ridgepole-raising ceremony of the “Daiden”, the main hall of Shiba-Zojo-ji Temple, was held. The main hall of Zojoji temple, which burned down in 1909, was rebuilt over a period of 10 years. The event was attended by members of the Tokugawa family, Tokyo Mayor Shinpei Goto, Baron Yoshiro Sakatani and more than 5,000 ordinary visitors despite the unfortunate rain. Top priests of Zojo-ji Temple, Kanmu HORIO, who was the temple’s top leader “Daisojo” (94), attended the ridgepole-raising ceremony accompanied by nurses and died 13 days later. The grand palace was completed in 1923. Reconstruction costs amounted to 2 million yen. The main hall of...
Social

Tuesday, April 12, 1921: The first Japanese civic cooperative was formed in Kobe.

Tuesday, April 12, 1921: The first civic cooperative, the Co-op, was formed in Kobe. Toyohiko KAGAWA, a labor movement leader, led the foundation of “Kobe Purchasing Association”. We sell daily necessities such as rice and soy sauce. It started with 10 members, but by the end of the year it had 1,246 members. I went around the house of a union member on a black bicycle to ask questions. Even today, Co-op Kobe is one of the largest consumer cooperatives in the world and the largest in Japan with 1.68 million members. The citizens of Kobe are known for their use of the word “co-op san” in Japanese. Since its...
Birthday

Monday, April 11, 1921: Actress Hisako Yamane is born

Monday, April 11, 1921 Actress Hisako Yamane is born in Tokyo. Since my childhood, I have studied piano, nursery rhymes, Western dance and Japanese dance, and I went on to study at Ochanomizu Cultural School, the women’s department. Unlike Bunka Fashion College, which is famous for its fashion design, Bunka Gakuin was founded 100 years ago in April 1921 by Isaku Nishimura, Akiko Yosano, Tekkan Yosano and Hakutei Ishii. In 1936, when he was a student at Bunka Gakuin, he made his debut at the age of 15, signing a contract with P.C.L. Film Seisakusho. The PCL merged with three other film companies in the following year and became Toho...
Economy

unday, April 10, 1921: Okuragumi’s vice president, Shigekuro KADONO

On Sunday, April 10, 1921, Tokyo Nichinichi Newspaper reported a rumor that Okuragumi’s vice president, Shigekuro KADONO, who was the president of Okura civil engineering (current Taisei Corp.) was going to be appointed as ambassador to China. Kadono was the second son of Watari KADONO, chief retainer of the former Toba Domain. He graduated from Keio University with a degree in engineering from Imperial University and worked for Pennsylvania Railway in the United States. Later, in 1897, he got acquainted with Kihachiro OKURA and joined Okura Gumi, and worked as a branch manager of London for a long time. In 1909, he became the vice president of Okura group and...
Politics

Saturday, April 9, 1921: Saburo OKUSHIGE vs Seibei SAKAKIDA

Saturday, April 9, 1921: An Igo match between Saburo OKUSHIGE (59 years old), the chairman of the House of Representatives, and Seibei SAKAKIDA (57 years old), a member of the House of Representatives and a member of the Rikken Seiyukai Party, is reported in the Tokyo Nichinichi Newspaper. After the Diet session ended, Oku and Sakakida played three days and three nights of a game of go in Hakone, but Sakakida won all the matches. Sakakida once fainted after playing go 26 hours in a row. From the latter part of the Taisho period to the early part of the Showa period, igo spread and became popular nationwide. The number...