Academic

Wednesday, November 9 1921: Seijiro Ibaraki is appointed as Principal of Tokyo Womens Higher Normal School, which is now Ochanomizu University.

1921 (Taisho 10) Wednesday, November 9 Seijiro Ibaraki (45) has been appointed as the seventh Principal of Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School, which is the present Ochanomizu University. Seijiro Ibaraki was born on August 19, 1879 as the second son of Misao Ibaraki, a member of the warrior class in Ishikawa Prefecture. She was 45 years old when she assumed the post of principal. I studied at the English Department of Tokyo Imperial University, and the lecturer at that time was Patrick Lafcadio Hearn. After graduating from Imperial University in 1899 (Meiji 32), he became a professor at his hometown’s former Fourth High School (now Kanazawa University). He took over...
Social

Tuesday, November 8 1921: Kawabata Yasunari (22) received a refusal letter of engagement from his fiancee.

1921 (Taisho 10) Tuesday, November 8 Kawabata Yasunari (22) received a letter from his fiancee Ito Imai (15) stating that he had unilaterally broken his engagement. The couple got engaged the previous month at Shoushukan on the banks of the Nagara River River in Gifu-shi. Yasunari Kawabata was 11 years older than him, and the author Kan Kikuchi (23) had promised that the newlyweds would be able to use Kikuchi’s house while he was away on a trip abroad. He was also supposed to receive 50 yen a month in living expenses from Kikuchi, who was already a popular writer and published “Madame Pearl” in the Tokyo Nichinichi Newspaper. Kawabata...
Politics

Saturday, November 5 1921: The Takashi Hara cabinet resigned en masse.

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...
Politics

Friday, November 4 1921: Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi was assassinated at Tokyo Station.

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...
Birthday

Thursday, November 3 1921: Takeo Shigemitsu, the founder of Lotte group, was born in Korea.

1921 (Taisho 10 ) Thursday, November 3, Lotte founder Takeo Shigemitsu (신격호) was born in Ulsan County, South Gyeongsang Province (now Ulsan Metropolitan City). He was the eldest of five sons and five daughters. In 1941 (Showa 16), with only 83 yen in his possession, he took the Sekigama ferry to Japan. Because it was during the war, I was in danger of being drafted, but I learned that an engineering major could avoid being drafted, so I gave up my original ambition for literature and majored in chemical industry. In 1944 (Showa 19), he graduated from Waseda Jitsugyo and established a cutting oil production factory, but it was destroyed...
Social

Tuesday, November 1, 1921: Japanese famous liquor store “Kakuyasu” opened in Tokyo.

1921 (Taisho 10) Tuesday, November 1 Today is the opening day of nationwide liquor store “Kaku-Yasu” in Japan. The founder of the store is Yasuzo Sato. First store was opened 100 years ago today in Toshima Ward, Tokyo. The name “Kaku-Yasu” is a combination of Kaku and Yasu. Kaku means Kaku-Masu, which is the name of a Japanese-Style wooden cup for drinking sake. Yasu means the founder Yasuzou. “Kakuyasu” has long been a small local sake shop, but under the leadership of its third generation president Junichi Sato, the company achieved rapid growth in the late 1990s by shifting its business strategy from wholesale to home delivery. President Sato may...
Social

Sunday, October 30 1921: Kabuki-za Theater in Tokyo was burnt down by a fire.

1921 (Taisho 10) Sunday, October 30 Kabuki-za Theater in Kobikicho, Kyobashi-ku was burnt down by a fire caused by a short circuit. It was in the same location as Ginza 4-chome where the present Kabukiza is located, and it was a building called the second Kabukiza which was renovated in 1911 (Meiji 44). 10 years had passed since it was built. On the way, in 1913, Takejiro Otani of Shochiku became an affiliate. The fire broke out at 7:20 AM on October 30. Many workers have been working overnight since the 28th in preparation for the November performance, which will soon begin on November 3. More than a dozen stagehands...
Birthday

Sunday, October 30 1921: The future first lady of Japan, Nakasone Tsutako was born in Tokyo.

1921 (Taisho 10) Sunday, October 30 The future first lady of Japan, Nakasone Tsutako was born in Tokyo. Her maiden name was Tsutako KOBAYASHI. She was the third daughter of Giichiro Kobayashi, a professor at Meiji University, a doctor of science and a geologist. Giichiro Kobayashi is known for boring Akagi Onsen in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture. Maebashi will be the constituency of his son-in-law, Yasuhiro Nakasone. Yasuhiro Nakasone, the 71st Prime Minister of Japan, was born on May 27, 1918, so he is 3 years older than Tsutako Kobayashi. Yasuhiro Nakasone, from Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, entered the Ministry of the Interior after graduating from the Department of Political Science,...
Birthday

Saturday, October 29 1921: Duke Kisako Tokugawa, the second daughter of Duke Tokugawa, was born.

1921 (Taisho 10) Saturday, October 29 1921: Duke Tokugawa Yoshihisa’s second daughter Kisako was born. Kisako was born and spent his childhood at the main residence of Tokugawa in Kohinata Dai Rokuten-machi, where Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA, who lived in his later years, finally moved to the residence and died of acute pneumonia at the age of 76 on November 22, 1913, 8 years before Kisako was born. This residence is currently home to the International Graduate School of Buddhist Studies, which also shows the place where Yoshinobu Tokugawa died. In 1996, Kisako Tokugawa published a book titled “Tokugawa Yoshinobu Family’s Children’s Room” by Soshisha, which describes her life in the former...
Birthday

Friday, October 28 1921: Translator Shinjo Tetsuo was born

1921 (Taisho 10) Friday, October 28 Translator Shinjo Tetsuo was born in San Francisco, USA. Later, he returned to his permanent address in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and entered Aoyama Gakuin English Literature School in Tokyo. Because it was wartime, he graduated early and worked in the foreign news department of the Tokyo Newspaper in charge of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the war, he also worked for GHQ as a journalist. In 1953 28, while still working for Tokyo Shimbun, he published Herman Walk’s first translation, The Rebellion on the Kane, which became a bestseller. In 1957 (Showa 32), I was transferred to the publishing division of Tokyo Shinbun...