Birthday

Thursday, May 19 1921: Civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama was born

1921 (Taisho 10) Thursday, May 19 Civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama was born in San Pedro, California. Her father is Seiichi Nakahara, a fish merchant who immigrated from Japan, and her mother is Tsuyako Sawaguchi Nakahara, a piano teacher who graduated from university. The family was relatively wealthy, and Yuri grew up in an area with a lot of white people. However, when the Pacific War started, the family was detained for the incarceration of Japanese-Americans, and their lives changed completely. He loses his father, Seiichi, in custody. In 1946, she married Bill Kochiyama, a second-generation Japanese-American military man whom she met during her detention, and had 6 children. In...
Politics

Monday, May 16 1921: The 1st Eastern Conference held

1921 (Taisho 10) The 1st Eastern Conference was held on Monday, May 16. At that time, it was also called a colonial conference. For five days, officials in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of War, and the Department of the Navy were gathered to discuss policies related to East Asian diplomacy. Prime Minister Takashi Hara and Army Minister Giichi Tanaka will officially decide on their plan to withdraw troops from Siberia. The “Expedition to Siberia” was the last war before World War II when the government succeeded in withdrawing its troops from the military, and the government lost control over the military after that. April 8...
Birthday

Monday, May 16 1921: Professional wrestler Kinji Shibuya was born

1921 (Taisho 10) Monday, May 16 Professional wrestler Kinji Shibuya was born in Utah, the United States. He was raised in Los Angeles as a second-generation Japanese American, and played an active role as an offense guard of American football at Belmont High School. He also played as an American football player at the University of Hawaii in the Hula Bowl, an all-star game at the U.S. National University, and joined semi-pro teams such as the Honolulu Polar Bears and the Honolulu Warriors. In 1952, he was scouted by Shikina OKI and joined professional wrestling. The following year, he took on the NWA champion, Lou Thesz, and attracted attention. Active...
Politics

Sunday, May 15 1921: Crown Prince Hirohito visits British Prime Minister Lloyd George

1921 (Taisho 10) Sunday, May 15 Crown Prince Hirohito visits British Prime Minister Lloyd George during his visit to the UK. In the same year, I visited Chequers, which had just become the prime minister’s villa. Crown Prince Hirohito was the first to take the road to the entranceway. At that time, there was talk in Britain that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance should be scrapped, but on the surface the two countries were very friendly allies. Crown Prince Hirohito’s visit to the British prime minister’s villa Chequers was filmed by a film crew prepared by Prime Minister Lloyd George. It is a valuable material to show the appearance of Imperial Prince...
Academic

Saturday, May 14 1921: Dispute continues at Meiji University

1921 (Taisho 10) Saturday, May 14 A preparatory course competition is held at Meiji University, where campus strife continues. In December of the previous year, a dispute arose over the resignation of President Tomosaburo KINOSHITA. Both professors Etsujiro Uehara and Rinpu SASAGAWA were dismissed for instigating the students, and later the university authorities conceded and allowed the two to return to their posts, but the Ministry of Education did not allow them to do so this time. Students will become increasingly opposed to the Ministry of Education. Etsujiro UEHARA, a political scientist, insisted on the theory of sovereignty of the people, which was bold at that time and beyond the...
Social

Friday, May 13 1921: At peak of the 15th solar cycle, Solar activity increases.

1921 (Taisho 10) May 13 (Friday) – 15th (Sunday) The 15 th solar cycle peak. Solar activity increases and anomalies are observed all over the world. Aurora was observed in the zenith in addition to the communication failure in California by the large-scale magnetic storm. The signal and switching system of the New York Railroad completely stopped, and the switchboard of the control tower was destroyed and a fire occurred. Telephone and telegraph connections were also disrupted in Europe. In Japan, too, the horizontal gauge needle of Kakioka Magnetic Observatory swung downward and became unobservable, which was published in English by Shinichi Kunitomi (28), an engineer at Kakioka Magnetic Observatory...
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...