Sei'ichiro Takahashi

Image: At Mita Hilltop Square

Sei'ichiro Takahashi was a figure of great significance for Keio University. Beyond his role as Acting President after the war, he taught economics within Keio for approximately 70 years until his final lecture in 1978. As one of the last individuals to receive personal guidance from Yukichi Fukuzawa in his later years, his contribution as a source of the school's spirit is beyond description.

Furthermore, he served as a pillar for the promotion of culture and arts, holding numerous prominent positions that are too many to list, including President of the Japan Art Academy, Chairman of Kojunsha, Director of the Tokyo National Museum, and Chairman of the Cultural Properties Protection Commission.

In 1947, he also served as the Minister of Education in the first Yoshida Cabinet. The following is an excerpt from his inaugural speech.

"We must learn the way to save ourselves through our own power. The complete development of the individual is the reason why the individual's position in society will eventually be fully satisfied. By the individual knowing oneself, respecting oneself, and being mindful of oneself, a warm bond between people who believe in and harmonize with each other is established. As the self-awareness of the individual deepens, the scope of that bond expands further, the dignity of man enters an infinitely noble and subtle realm, and millions of people will join hands to bring about a perfect utopia. (Omitted) To fully develop the individual is to create a person of independence and self-respect. When we become people of complete independence and self-respect, and when reason completely determines human actions, a world of supreme goodness and bliss shall be established on this earth through the peaceful power of truth. Thus, the pursuit of truth must also be the original purpose of education."

Sei'ichiro Takahashi was born in 1884 as the only son of the wealthy Niigata merchant "Tsugaruya." His father, Shigekichi, wound up the affairs of this declining shipping agency and, following the advice of Kenzo Yoshida (the adoptive father of Shigeru Yoshida and a family friend since his grandfather's time), attempted to start a business in Yokohama. Sei'ichiro was four years old when he and his mother moved from Niigata to Tokyo.

Although Shigekichi was not an alumnus of Keio University, he was an admirer of Fukuzawa through the Jiji Shinpo newspaper. Hearing that Keio University was enthusiastic about encouraging physical education, he considered placing his naturally frail only son in the Yochisha dormitory to entrust his education to them. However, perhaps due to his mother's loneliness and concern for her child, he missed the enrollment period and attended Oimatsu School in Yokohama until his third year of higher elementary school, eventually entering the general course of Keio University in 1898.

The first time Takahashi saw Fukuzawa was in the year of his admission, during a speech titled "Law and the Times" held at the Mita Public Speaking Event. Takahashi recalled Fukuzawa's public speaking style as "eloquent, but by no means grandiloquent." Two days after this talk attended by Takahashi, Fukuzawa collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage. Coincidentally, this became Fukuzawa's final talk at a public speaking event. After his major illness, Fukuzawa made walking a daily routine. Takahashi deepened his friendship with Fukuzawa by accompanying him on these walks. Gradually, through Fukuzawa's kindness, he was allowed to enter the family library alone and freely take out and immerse himself in books. Fukuzawa looked out for Takahashi, occasionally asking, "Have you found anything interesting?" or suggesting, "Try archery," out of concern for Takahashi's thin build.

In 1901, Fukuzawa passed away. Takahashi looked back with regret, saying, "In the sadness of my youthful dullness, although I was close to this great man of the Meiji era almost every day and was in his presence, I only ever listened to his cheerful laughter and ended up without even trying to grasp a fragment of his thought" (Kaiso Kyujunnen). It was in 1932, when he was commissioned by Kaizosha to write a biography of Fukuzawa as part of the "Great Figures Biography Series," that Takahashi began to focus his efforts on Fukuzawa research. This volume carefully followed Fukuzawa's life while adding analysis from an economic perspective, presenting a new way of understanding Fukuzawa research.

From the perspective of students, Keio University after Fukuzawa's death seemed to have fallen into a "somewhat demoralized state," to the point where it was mocked in song as "independence and self-respect has grown moldy," and appeared to be "the most behind-the-times school depending on how one looked at it." Amidst a rising sentiment that "this cannot continue," Takahashi was pushed forward by his friends and served in various roles, including secretary of the internal academic society, officer of the Athletic Association, chairman of the consumer cooperative, and head of the dormitory. Takahashi frequently sparked debates with the President and school authorities, such as protesting the cancellation of the Waseda-Keio rivalry games, which earned him their ire. In particular, his editorial activities in the student magazine "Mita Gakkai Zasshi" (not the current "Mita-hyoron") were so intense that they included radical criticisms of the Juku leadership's very structure. He also enjoyed Keio students' life to the fullest, founding the swimming club and going swimming in Hayama almost every summer.

After graduation, Takahashi remained within Keio as an assistant at the invitation of Kanshu Kiga, a professor in the department of political economy. Takahashi, who wanted to "take a job where I can enjoy the most leisure time," received the answer from Kiga that "in that case, there is nothing better than staying at the school." He declined an invitation from the newspaper "Nippon" managed by Keio alumnus Kinsuke Ito, as well as a recommendation from Kiichi Horie, head of the department of political economy, to join Jiji Shinpo, and began a teaching career that would last for about 70 years. Furthermore, less than five months after becoming an assistant, Takahashi joined a group including President Eikichi Kamata and his "mentors" such as Suichiro Tanaka, Tokuzo Fukuda, and Teiichi Kawai on a regional lecture tour to promote the Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code. This shows that these promotional activities were highly valued even after Fukuzawa's death.

In 1911, Takahashi was ordered to study in Western countries. President Kamata advised him, "For the sake of your research, I naturally have no objection to you going to Germany or France, but before that, I strongly recommend you stay in England for a year or even half a year to first become an Anglo-Saxon style gentleman." During his time abroad, he did not attend university as a student but spent his time reading books at the British Museum and the Goldsmiths' Library from opening until closing, and at night, he translated German economics books at his lodgings while studying. However, about six months later, Takahashi contracted tuberculosis, an incurable disease at the time. Suffering from high fever and bloody phlegm in a foreign land, he spent more than half of his study period recuperating—about two months in a local nursing home and about six months in a sanatorium. He returned to Japan via the land route through Siberia in 1912.

After returning home and recuperating for about two years, he returned to the lectern of his alma mater at the recommendation of Kiichi Horie and became a professor in the department of political economy in 1915. During the Pacific War, although he was made a Professor Emeritus before retirement age due to the Juku's financial difficulties, he continued to teach subjects such as Principles of Economics and the History of Economic Thought as a lecturer, laying the foundation for economic research within Keio. His representative works, such as "Pre-history of Economics" (1929) and "Studies in Mercantilist Economic Theory" (1932), are highly regarded as classics of economics.

Before the war, Takahashi was hardly involved in the management of the Juku, except as the Director of the Library. However, after the war, he served as Acting President in 1946 on behalf of Shinzo Koizumi, who had suffered severe burns in an air raid. During his nine-month tenure, he fulfilled his responsibility for post-war reconstruction by visiting the Prime Minister, various ministers, and GHQ headquarters to appeal for the Juku's desperate situation.

After the war, the government was searching for a new relationship between the Emperor and the people, and the then Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida took notice of Yukichi Fukuzawa's "On the Imperial Household." After reading "On the Imperial Household," which was shown to him by his relative and primary physician Taro Takemi, Yoshida earnestly requested Takahashi to become the Minister of Education.

Takahashi initially declined the appointment, but he came to accept it, viewing this opportunity as the arrival of the time when "education based on the principle of independence and self-respect, which Keio University has long advocated, should actually be implemented." Due to the Liberal Party's defeat in the next election, Takahashi's tenure was only four months. However, when the bill for the Fundamental Law of Education, which begins with Article 1 stating "Education shall aim at the full development of personality," was submitted to the Diet during his tenure, Takahashi reportedly felt deep emotion, thinking, "The time has finally come for the new education of independence and self-respect contained in the Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code to be implemented nationwide." Amidst the meager budget of post-war reconstruction, passing the Fundamental Law of Education, which included the 6-3-3-4 system, was extremely difficult. However, Takahashi successfully coordinated it through his skillful sense of balance. This was a major achievement during his term as minister. He also worked hard to establish the status of private schools, fulfilling his ideals during his short term as stated in his inaugural speech. Coincidentally, his last official duty as Minister Takahashi was to deliver a congratulatory address as the Minister of Education at the 90th anniversary ceremony of his alma mater, Keio University.

Influenced by his father's collection of calligraphy, paintings, and curios, Takahashi had been interested in nishiki-e (colored woodblock prints) since childhood. His collection of ukiyo-e went beyond the realm of a hobby, reaching a level that was among the best in Japan as research, and he later served as the chairman of the Japan Ukiyo-e Association. Keio University also held the "Sei'ichiro Takahashi Collection: Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e Exhibition" for its 150th anniversary. Furthermore, beyond ukiyo-e, his deep knowledge of the arts in general, including Kabuki, and his profound cultural insight led him to serve in numerous key positions, such as Chairman of the Cultural Properties Protection Commission, Director of the National Museum, President of the Japan Dance Association, Chairman of Eirin (Film Classification and Rating Organization), Chairman of the Bunraku Association, and Chairman of the National Theatre. Additionally, he taught economics at Tokyo Woman's Christian University starting in 1923, engaging in women's education ahead of the Juku, which began it after the war. He also serialized essays titled "Epimetheus" in this journal, Mita-hyoron, for over 10 years starting in 1962. By recording his experiences, he contributed to the succession of the Juku's spirit. Among these, he published those related to the Juku as "Essays on Keio University (Volumes 1 and 2)."

"Playfulness departs, playfulness arrives, and truth naturally exists." This is a phrase by Yukichi Fukuzawa that Takahashi said was "most frequently remembered." Takahashi interpreted this phrase as: "While living among the common people and engaging in the mundane affairs of the secular world together, his heart was set on a higher place, cutting off the dust of the secular world alone, and while playing the same games of the floating world, he hoped at times to wake up and realize that the play is but play" (Kaiso Kyujunnen). Many people visited Takahashi's Oiso villa, Ojo Sanso. At times, they talked animatedly about academic matters, and at other times, about culture and the arts. Although he had been frail since his youth and had hovered between life and death in a foreign land, Takahashi's 97-year life, full of humor, could truly be described as one where he "recognized life as play, yet applied himself to that play in earnest."