Tokutomi Sohō
Tokutomi Sohō | |
|---|---|
Atami, Shizuoka , Japan | |
| Occupation | Journalist, Historian |
| Genre | essays |
Tokutomi Sohō (徳富 蘇峰, March 14 1863 – November 2 1957), born Tokutomi Iichirō (徳富 猪一郎), was a Japanese journalist and historian. He advocated commoner Europeanism and Europeanization, established Minyū-sha, and launched the magazines Kokumin no Tomo and the newspaper Kokumin Shimbun. He was the older brother of noted author, Tokutomi Roka.
Biography
Sohō was born in Minamata, Higo Province (now Kumamoto prefecture), into a samurai family just before the Meiji Restoration. He studied Eigaku (study of the English language as a means to acquire Western knowledge, especially after the end of Japan's period of isolation[1]) at the Kumamoto Yogakko, and later at the Doshisha (subsequently Doshisha University) in Kyoto. He left school without graduating, but later wrote of his gratitude to the school's principal, Joseph Hardy Neesima.
Following a period back in Kumamoto, where he started a local newspaper, Sohō moved to Tokyo. In 1887, he established the Min'yūsha publishing company, which printed Japan's first general news magazine, the Kokumin no Tomo ("The People's Friend") from 1887 to 1898. This magazine was highly influential in the politics of Meiji period Japan. In addition to this news magazine, the Min'yūsha also published a magazine of family issues, Katei Zasshi ("Home Journal", 1892–1898), an English-language version of the Kokumin no Tomo, ("The Far East", 1896–1898), and an influential newspaper, the Kokumin Shinbun (1890–1929).
Sohō was initially a champion of
In 1910, Sohō became head of the Keijō Nippō, one of the major Japanese newspapers in Korea under Japanese rule.
While overseeing these publications as general editor, Sohō contributed some 350 articles, on diverse subjects ranging from international affairs, to history, biography and literature. He also compiled Kinsei Nihon Kokumin shi (近世日本国民史 "A History of Early Modern Japanese People"), which was published in 100 volumes over a period from 1918 to 1952. He was awarded the Order of Culture by the Japanese government in 1943.
Sohō was viewed with suspicion by the
References
- ^ "Definition of 英学". JapanDict: Japanese Dictionary. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
Sources
- Ariyama, Teruo (1992). Tokutomi Sohō to Kokumin Shinbun 徳富蘇峰と国民新聞 (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kobunkan. ISBN 4-642-03631-8.
- De Lange, William (2023). A History of Japanese Journalism: State of Affairs and Affairs of State. Toyo Press. ISBN 978-94-92722-393.
- Pierson, John D. (1980). Tokutomi Soho 1863–1957: A Journalist for Modern Japan. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04674-3.
External links
