1921 (Taisho 10) Wednesday, November 9 A memorial service for the recently assassinated Prime Minister Takashi Hara was held at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., just ahead of the Washington Conference which is scheduled to be held on November 11 soon. More than 200 people attended the memorial service, which was held at 4:30 PM amid heavy rain. On the mantelpiece in the drawing room, in addition to the Hinomaru national flag, a bouquet of pure white chrysanthemums and a photograph of Prime Minister Takashi Hara were displayed. Following a 30 second moment of silence, the three Japanese delegates to the Washington conference delivered their condolences. First, Kijuro SHIDEHARA,...

1921 (Taisho 10) Saturday, November 5 The Takashi Hara cabinet resigned en masse. Prime Minister Takashi Hara was assassinated at 7:25 PM on the concourse at the south exit of Tokyo Station. He was 65 years old. In response to this emergency, Foreign Minister Uchida (Yasuya) assumed the post of Acting Prime Minister. The next morning, an extraordinary cabinet meeting was held, and the resignations of all cabinet members were put together and immediately submitted to the Imperial Palace. The decision method of the prime minister at that time was recommended and decided by a certain important politician called Genro in the form of consulting with the Emperor. The three...

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, November 4 Prime Minister Hara Takashi was attacked and killed by Otsuka Station operator Nakaoka Konichi on the concourse at Marunouchi South Exit of Tokyo Station. He was 65 years old. Prime Minister Hara was heading to the ticket gate under the direction of station manager Yoshikazu Takahashi to catch a 7:30 PM train from Tokyo Station to attend the Seiyukai Kinki Convention in Kyoto the following day. Then, at 7:25 PM, Nakaoka suddenly rushed out of the crowd and thrust his short sword into Hara’s right chest. He died almost immediately. Nakaoka was a day shift operator at Otsuka Station. The point change is the...

1921 (Taisho 10) On Thursday, October 27, 3 young military men from the same period of 16 years of the Military Academy gathered in Baden-Baden, a resort area in South Germany, and pledged to transform their army. It’s called the Baden-Baden Secret Agreement. This is said to have greatly influenced the course of Japan in the pre-war Showa period, and it has become an important event in the modern history of Japan. Three young soldiers gathered at Baden-Baden. Everyone was indignant at the realities of the Army. These three are as follows. Tetsuzan NAGATA, a military officer attached to the Swiss legation. Toshishiro Obata was a military attaché at the...

1921 (Taisho 10) On Friday, October 14. A celebration of the 50 year railway anniversary was held in front of Tokyo Station. Crown Prince Hirohito attended as Emperor Taisho’s representative. After a six-month visit to Europe on September 3, 20 year-old Crown Prince Hirohito returned home with tremendous popularity. The crowd gathered at Tokyo Station to see the Crown Prince at a glance and it was very crowded. Prime Minister Takashi Hara, Minister of Railways Hajime Motoda, and many other officials attended the ceremony and gave congratulatory speeches. Of course, there was also a word from Crown Prince Hirohito. They also commended those who had contributed to the railway and...

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, October 7: Crown Prince Hirohito (20) attended the homage ceremony at Kazoku-kaikan Clubhouse, which is for aristocratic class in Japan. After watching “Ataka” at the Noh theater, he had a friendly chat with the members. Iesato Tokugawa (58), the President of the House of Peers and the President of the House of Peers, made a statement to celebrate his safe return from his long trip to Europe. Three cheers for the party. Kazoku Kaikan Hall is present Kasumi Kaikan Hall. At 1:40 PM, he was sent to the Kazoku Kaikan (the Peerage House) to celebrate his return to Japan. Upon your arrival, all the members who...

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, September 30 Youlan, Aisin Gioro Pu Yi’s mother, committed suicide at the age of 37. He was born in 1884. His father was Ronglu, an influential person in the Qing Dynasty. She became the lawful wife of Zaifeng and Prince Chun and gave birth to Puyi, Fuketsu’s brothers and three other daughters. He collided with Empress Wen Jing (Jin Fei, a wife of Emperor Guangxu), who had power in the Forbidden City at that time, and committed suicide.

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, September 16 The second son Mitsuru was born to Shinsui ITO, a young Japanese-style painter and printmaker who was 23 years old at that time, and his wife Yoshiko. Shinsui participated in the new woodblock print movement at that time including Goyo Hashiguchi, and he energetically published his works. In 1922 (Taisho year 11), the year following the birth of Man, his work “Sashi” distinguished himself by winning a silver medal at the Peace Memorial Tokyo Exhibition. It became popular for its bijinga (beautiful women’s pictures) with the unique soft expression of Japanese-style painting, which succeeded the orthodoxy of Utagawa school Ukiyoe. She was the model...

1921 (Taisho 10) On Tuesday, September 6, Shotaro Kokubu, the Vice Minister of the King Yi Bureau of Korea under Japanese rule, died suddenly. Kokubu is a well-known diplomat proficient in Korean, and served as an interpreter during negotiations between Japan and the ROK by Hirobumi Ito. When the Chosen Sotoku-fu was established in 1910 (Meiji 43), he became the head of the Personnel Bureau. Because of the strong trust of the Yi Dynasty, he transferred the former royal family of Korea to the Yi Dynasty Bureau under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Imperial Household, and served as the second vice minister after the Minister of the Yi...

1921 (Taisho 10) On Saturday, September 3, Prince Hirohito landed in Yokohama after completing his European tour. Prime Minister Takashi Hara, Minister of State and other high-ranking officials boarded the battleship Katori from Yokohama Port to greet the Crown Prince. There were a lot of visitors at Yokohama Port. We took a train from Yokohama Station to Tokyo Station, and then returned to Takanawa Togu Gosho in a covered carriage from Tokyo Station. The whole roadside was filled with a crowd that had no room to stand, and the cheers of “banzai” never stopped. According to a message from Crown Prince Hirohito, the most impressive things during his visit to...