Sutejiro Fukuzawa

The Jiji Shinpo, founded by Yukichi Fukuzawa, held a prestigious position in Japan as an impartial newspaper advocating for independence and self-respect. Sutejiro, the second son of Yukichi, served as the president of Jiji Shinpo from 1896 to 1926. "Sutejiro Fukuzawa was certainly a pioneer in our newspaper industry. He was also an extremely talented head of the social affairs department and the planning department. It was no coincidence that Jiji Shinpo flourished during his presidency." "I unreservedly acknowledge that he constantly led our newspaper industry with numerous creative ideas from the latter half of the Meiji era through the Taisho era." Takuzo Itakura, who later served as the company's president, evaluated Sutejiro in this way (from "Fifty Newspaper People"). Sutejiro was a figure who established various new precedents in the newspaper industry of the time, utilizing the knowledge he gained while studying in the United States and the spirit of "creating for oneself" inherited from his father.

Sutejiro Fukuzawa was born in 1865 at the Nakatsu Domain's middle residence in Tsukiji Teppozu as the second son of Yukichi Fukuzawa. Yukichi recorded the growth of his children in "Fukuzawa Yukichi Shijo-den" (An Account of Yukichi Fukuzawa's Children). While the eldest son Ichitaro was slow to develop, Sutejiro's development was very rapid. Although there was an age difference of about two years between the brothers, their "mental and physical functions seemed exactly the same," and as a result, many people mistook them for twins from a young age. Yukichi had an educational policy of "first forming the animal body and then nurturing the human mind," and he did not teach his children even the basic i-ro-ha characters between the ages of three and five, allowing them to run as wild as they pleased thereafter.

On the other hand, around 1871, when Ichitaro was eight and Sutejiro was six, Yukichi wrote and gave them a text called "Hibi no Oshie" (Daily Lessons). It began with seven "rules" such as "thou shalt not tell lies," and Yukichi wrote down things he wanted them to value each day on calligraphy paper and read them aloud. Ichitaro reportedly looked forward to what would be written each morning, but according to "Yukichi Fukuzawa to Me" by Sutejiro's grandson, Takeshi Fukuzawa, Sutejiro reportedly said he "hated it and was fed up with being given such stiff talks every morning."

From around 1872, they began learning English from foreigners in the Tsukiji settlement, but for other subjects, their parents taught them counting, the calendar, and multiplication tables only after Sutejiro was eight and Ichitaro was ten. The teaching method used "only picture books" and was "without fixed times, left to their own discretion." Furthermore, Yukichi called himself a "friend" to his sons and would "teach them the names of things they saw while walking." Yukichi, who valued family harmony, often went on family trips. In 1876, he traveled to the Kansai region with only Ichitaro and Sutejiro, visiting famous temples, shrines, and historic sites.

In 1879, Yukichi wanted the two to study at the University of Tokyo and enrolled them in the University Preparatory School. The school was a boarding school from which students could advance to the University of Tokyo upon graduation. However, both of them developed stomach problems upon entering the dormitory. Even after recovering at home and re-entering, the stomach issues recurred. They gave up in 1881 and enrolled in the regular course of Keio University. While the eldest son Ichitaro graduated in July 1882, the second son Sutejiro graduated from the regular course in December 1881, earlier than his brother.

In 1883, both Ichitaro and Sutejiro went to the United States to study. Upon their departure, Yukichi gave them a set of instructions stating that maintaining health was more important than academic progress, and that they must not return to Japan regardless of what happened or even if they received news that their parents were ill. In this document, he recommended that Ichitaro study agriculture and Sutejiro study electricity within the field of physics.

After arriving, the two studied languages in Oberlin, Ohio, and Poughkeepsie, New York. Sutejiro spent his time so "energetically" that he had experiences such as quarreling with foreigners, leading Yukichi to admonish him in letters. In 1884, Ichitaro entered Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and Sutejiro entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the suburbs of Boston. Sutejiro became interested in railroads rather than the electricity his father recommended and majored in civil engineering. Their life abroad was supported by Americans known to Yukichi and by his former students. Nevertheless, Yukichi's worries never ceased, and he reportedly encouraged talented individuals nearby to become study companions for the two.

According to "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa," the letters sent during their study abroad reached "over three hundred and some dozens." The content of the letters covered detailed matters such as lifestyle advice, and he even sent food items like yokan. A large volume of letters was sent to Sutejiro until Yukichi's death, ranging from reports on everyday matters to detailed instructions, which are utilized today as materials for Fukuzawa research.

Sutejiro successfully graduated from the university, then traveled around Europe to broaden his horizons, and the two returned to Japan in 1888. Yukichi was greatly delighted by their return and hosted a banquet at the Mita athletic grounds, inviting over a thousand people, primarily Keio University students.

The year after his return, Sutejiro utilized the railway civil engineering he learned abroad to find employment as an engineer at Sanyo Railway, where his relative Hikojiro Nakamigawa was president. After Sutejiro started working, Yukichi traveled to Kobe with a group of nearly 20 people, including family members and gardeners, to visit Sutejiro living alone and enjoy family time. In 1891, he resigned from the company and joined Jiji Shinpo. That same year, through Yukichi's selection, he married Kiku, the eldest daughter of Tadasu Hayashi, who was then the Governor of Hyogo Prefecture and later a diplomat who rendered distinguished service in the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. They were subsequently blessed with two sons and two daughters.

In 1896, at the young age of 31, Sutejiro became the president of Jiji Shinpo. During a lecture on the anniversary of Fukuzawa's birth in January 1972, Yoshimi Uchikawa, who served as the Director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Tokyo, evaluated Sutejiro, saying, "He was a person who had acquired a sense for American newspapers and was a very rare type of newspaper manager in Japan during the Meiji and Taisho eras." Sutejiro carefully studied the content of American newspapers from his time abroad and flexibly adopted their methods. As president, he attempted various challenges directly and indirectly, establishing many new precedents ahead of other newspapers. These included an exclusive contract with Reuters, the first national "Beauty Contest" in the newspaper industry held in response to a Miss World contest planned by a U.S. paper, the appointment of Toyoko Osawa as a "female stenographer," and the publication of an "Almanac," among countless others. Here, I would like to introduce four pioneering efforts using the words of Takuzo Itakura from "Fifty Newspaper People."

The first is the treatment of the "social section." While major newspapers of the time focused their efforts on hard news such as political theory, political news, and government reports, Jiji Shinpo also put effort into the social section. It was groundbreaking to boldly devote an entire page to sensational events like murders, featuring woodblock prints depicting site maps and actual scenes, and providing detailed accounts of the tragedies.

The second is "classified advertising." It began as brokerage information but gradually developed into information for various industries. It came to use an entire page daily, and sometimes large advertising specials of nearly 200 pages were produced. According to Itakura, "this was extremely profitable," and other newspapers gradually adopted the practice.

The third is the discovery of Rakuten Kitazawa (real name: Yasuji), who was "one of the first and greatest contributors to bringing newspaper comics to their current prosperity." Yukichi and Sutejiro, who emphasized the utility of comics, social satire, and humor in newspapers, discovered Rakuten drawing unconventional comics in an English weekly magazine in Yokohama. Recognizing his talent, they recruited him to handle "Jiji Manga" (Current Events Comics). Incidentally, Jiji Shinpo was also the first to use the new term "manga" for what was generally called "ponchi-e" (Punch-style pictures).

The last is the "encouragement of sports." Regarding sports, Jiji Shinpo put in so much effort that Itakura claimed, "No one would object to saying that Jiji Shinpo set the precedent for the trend in our newspaper industry." Sutejiro served as the first chairman of the Athletic Association within Keio and was "understanding of all sports, encouraging them and providing funds." Since 1893, he "specially manufactured gold and silver medals and championship flags to be presented to winners at school and group athletic meets and various competitions held across the country." At the time, "receiving a Jiji Shinpo gold medal was apparently the highest honor." Furthermore, he devoted many pages to articles on various sports competitions and athletic meets, "reporting the situation from start to finish in detail with much descriptive color." The current custom of presenting a photo frame to the winning sumo wrestler was also started by Jiji Shinpo. Additionally, in 1901, the newspaper sponsored the first long-distance race competition around Shinobazu Pond in Ueno. These were "all due to the creativity of Sutejiro Fukuzawa, who was himself an excellent sportsman."

In 1926, Sutejiro passed away. Subsequently, the "Japan's number one" Jiji Shinpo ceased publication in 1936. Itakura stated that "tracing back the origins of its decline, one of the greatest causes was the damage caused by his venture into the Osaka market." The person who decided to expand into Osaka, where the "Mainichi" and "Asahi" newspapers were dominant, was none other than Sutejiro. Following the failure in Osaka, Jiji Shinpo lost its competitiveness due to a combination of factors including the Great Kanto Earthquake, personnel conflicts, boycotts by other newspapers, and labor disputes. To restructure the management, Kango Koyama, Wasaku Natori, Sanji Muto, and others successively worked hard as presidents to rebuild the company, and Ikunoshin Kadono also made efforts by investing his private fortune as chairman, but the situation did not improve, and the paper ceased publication (it was later revived once under Itakura, but finally ended in 1955 upon merging with the "Sankei Shimbun").

At the beginning of this article, I introduced a passage in which Itakura highly praises Sutejiro, but this passage also includes the following: "However, it is a sad fact that during his lifetime, his true character was greatly misunderstood by people both outside and inside the company. The majority of people were unanimous in calling him a great playboy, a spendthrift, and a spoiled second-generation child." To borrow the words of his grandson Takeshi Fukuzawa, it seems there was an aspect of Sutejiro being viewed by those around him as a "pleasure-seeker." However, I wish to record here that Sutejiro poured such affection into Jiji Shinpo that he named his son "Tokitaro," taking one character from the "Toki" (Jiji) of Jiji Shinpo, and was a great newspaper man who achieved rare pioneering feats and results in Japan.