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,...
Economy

Monday, May 2 1921: Gui-Sui station (now Hohhot Station) opened

1921 (Taisho 10) Monday, May 2 China’s Jing-Sui railway opened. Gui-Sui station (now Hohhot Station) opened, and Beijing – Zhangjiakou – Datong – along with 653.6 km of Gui-Sui were connected by railway. In January 1923, 2 years later, the line will extend another 165 km from Gui-Sui to the terminal point of Baotou, and a loan of 3 million yen from Japan was used to construct this section. Before the New Shikoku Loan Program, which was established by the open door policy of the United States, Japan adopted the form of loans from Toa Kogyo, a private company. However, this loan has developed into an intense diplomatic problem. This...
Economy

Sunday, May 1 1921: Eno-Den Railway acquired

1921 (Taisho 10) Sunday, May 1 Tokyo Dento, known to have been founded by Eichi SHIBUSAWA, purchased Yokohama Denki on the same day. As a result, the Enoshima Electric Railway Department (so-called Enoden), which had been managed by Yokohama Electric, came under the umbrella of Tokyo Dento. The number of passengers transported by Enoden, which became the Enoshima Line under the jurisdiction of the Katase Sub-Branch Office of the Yokohama Branch Office of Tokyo Dento, is rapidly increasing at this time, reflecting an increase in the local population. The number of passengers transported by 1921 (Taisho 10) increased to 1,613,000, and by 1925 (Taisho 14) after the Great Kanto Earthquake...
Birthday

Sunday, May 1 1921: baseball player, Hitokoto Taju was born.

1921 (Taisho 10) On Sunday, May 1, Hitokoto Taju, a professional baseball player, was born in Rokuai-mura, Shizuoka Prefecture, now Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He entered the local baseball powerhouse, Shimada Shogyo, and participated in 7 Koshien tournaments: 1937 (Showa 12) spring and summer; 1938 (Showa 13) spring as an outfielder; and 1939 (Showa 14) spring as an ace for 4 consecutive seasons. In the summer tournament, we lost in the final two years in a row to Wakayama Prefecture’s Kaisou Junior High School with the aces of Shima Seiichi and Sanada Juzo. 1941 (Showa 16) Entered Senshu University. In the five major leagues, he recorded no hits and no...
Economy

Saturday, April 30 1921: Dainippon Beer Hakata Plant

1921 (Taisho 10) Saturday, April 30 Completion of construction of Dainippon Beer Co., Ltd.’s Hakata Plant (Current Asahi Breweries Hakata Factory). With three brands of Ebisu, Sapporo, and Asahi, Dainippon Breweries was the biggest at the time. There were speculations that the contracted price of 55 sen with Kirin and Kabuto would be lowered by 20% due to a decrease in demand caused by the postwar recession. The president is “Beer king of Japan” Kyohei MAGOSHI. 1906 (Meiji 39) Three companies of Nippon Beer (President Kyohei Magoshi), Sapporo Beer (President Shibusawa Eiichi), and Osaka Beer (President Torii Komakichi) were merged to establish Dainippon Beer Co., Ltd., and Magoshi assumed the...