Takuzo Ushiba

Image: From "Ten-Year Anniversary: Essays on Japanese Railways" (1909), edited by the Railway Times Bureau.

"The foster father of Sanyo Railway"—this is how the Hyogo Prefecture Curriculum Advisory Committee's "One Hundred Pioneers of Our Homeland" introduced Takuzo Ushiba. Ushiba studied at Keio University and entered the railway industry after working for newspapers, the administration, and as a politician. This article looks back on his life, including the personal relationships that led to the Sanyo Railway Co., Ltd. (which laid and opened the current JR Sanyo Main Line) and his achievements in contributing to the development of the railway industry as a whole. It should be noted that many points in Ushiba's career are pointed out as being unidentifiable despite various theories, and we wish to keep these as issues for ongoing study while being mindful of the descriptions.

Ushiba was born in December 1850 (January 1851) in Ise Province (now Tsu City, Mie Prefecture) as the third child of Heijuro Ihaya, and was adopted by Keijiro Ushiba. In June 1872, he entered Keio University. In the prefecture/domain column of the "Enrollment Register," it is listed as Shima, Watarai Prefecture, which may have been Keijiro's residence. His name can be confirmed in the "Keio University Academic Diligence Table" from June 1872 to April 1874. During his time at the school, he was known as an eloquent speaker along with Ikunosuke Kadono and Yukio Ozaki. On July 1, 1874, he was admitted to the Mita Public Speaking Event. The group had been founded on June 27 of the previous month by five managers, including Hikojiro Nakamigawa, and eight members, including Fukuzawa. Ushiba, the first member to join, made a motion regarding the meeting methods shown by Fukuzawa and left a mark by changing them.

In 1874, Ushiba had the opportunity to contribute articles to the daily newspaper "Yubin Hochi Shimbun" published by Hochisha (now Hochi Shimbun). This began because the company was forced to secure human resources against the backdrop of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. First, Joun Kurimoto, a former official of the Shogunate who was welcomed as an editor in July of that year, relied on Fukuzawa to strengthen the editorial team. According to the "120-Year History of the Hochi Shimbun," the two hit it off so well that it was hard to believe it was their first meeting, and Fukuzawa readily agreed. Students submitted articles one after another, and those by Ushiba, Shigekichi Fujita, and Katsundo Minoura were particularly well-received. In March of the following year, 1875, these three officially joined Hochisha, with Fujita becoming the editor-in-chief in August and Minoura becoming the editorial head.

In 1877, while serving as the head of the Industrial Promotion Section of Hyogo Prefecture, Ushiba was ordered by the prefectural governor Masasumi Morioka (a Satsuma domain samurai who later became the first president of Nippon Yusen Kaisha) to prepare for the establishment of the Kobe Commercial Training Institute (now Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Commercial High School). Ushiba relied on Fukuzawa, and a contract was signed between Hyogo Prefecture and Keio University, leading to the opening of the institute the following year. Fukuzawa dispatched a total of three people from the school: Orie Kai (a member since the founding of the Mita Public Speaking Event) as principal, Heisaku Iida as an English studies teacher, and Kiyoshi Fujii as a bookkeeping professor. Around the same time, the school was also involved in the establishment of the Tokyo Commercial Training Institute (now Hitotsubashi University), but the one in Kobe adopted a unique method that best suited the local situation and achieved great results.

In February 1880, on the recommendation of Fumio Yano, Ushiba entered key government positions along with Ozaki and Tsuyoshi Inukai. Yano was from the Saiki Domain in Bungo and had studied with his fellow countryman and junior student Fujita while letting him live with him during their student days. After serving as a teacher at the school and deputy editor-in-chief of Hochisha, Yano became a secretary at the Ministry of Finance in 1878. The impoverished Inukai had joined Hochisha after commuting to the school from the house of Fujita, who was already serving as the editor-in-chief of Hochisha.

Hikoichi Motoyama succeeded Ushiba as the head of the Industrial Promotion Section of Hyogo Prefecture. Motoyama was three years younger than Ushiba and was born into a family of samurai from the Higo Kumamoto Domain. After studying at the domain school Jishukan, he went to Tokyo and became an official at the Tax Bureau. Motoyama understood that the academic style of Keio University was appropriate for acquiring practical knowledge, and although he could not afford to take regular courses, Fukuzawa allowed him to come and go as freely as a student. On January 13, 1878, Motoyama received a letter of introduction from Fukuzawa before leaving for a trip around the country after resigning as an official. The letter requested more than ten people, including Ushiba and Kai, to provide convenience during his visit. On the way, Motoyama and Ushiba hit it off, and Motoyama joined the Hyogo Prefectural Office on Ushiba's recommendation. The bond between the two, forged by Fukuzawa, began here.

In March 1882, "Jiji Shimpo" was launched. Nakamigawa, who had been ousted from the bureaucracy in the Political Crisis of 1881, became the proprietor, and Ushiba and others who had been similarly ousted took charge of reporting and editing. Motoyama also joined Jiji Shimpo later after leaving the Hyogo Prefectural Office and working for Osaka Shimpo. In December of the same year, Ushiba, Kakugoro Inoue, and others became advisors for the reform of various policies of the Korean government upon Fukuzawa's recommendation and traveled there. Fukuzawa wrote "Mr. Takuzo Ushiba Goes to Korea" in the editorials of Jiji Shimpo from January 11 to 13 of the following year, 1883, as a farewell gift. However, Ushiba judged the execution to be impossible and returned to Japan in May. After returning, he became a tax collector for the Ministry of Finance and is said to have retired in 1887.

In April 1887, Japan Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. (now Taisei Corporation) was established, consisting of the civil engineering and construction department of Fujitagumi (now DOWA Holdings Co., Ltd.) and the civil engineering department of Okuragumi Shokai. According to the "History of Taisei Corporation," Kihachiro Okura (President of Okuragumi Shokai) became the President and Director, Denzaburo Fujita (President of Fujitagumi) and Eiichi Shibusawa became Directors, and Ushiba became the Managing Director stationed in Tokyo. Motoyama had been welcomed as a manager at Fujitagumi in July of the previous year. Regarding the appointment of Ushiba, it is thought that Motoyama was involved in some way, and the basis for this is in the following passage from the "Draft Biography of Mr. Hikoichi Motoyama."

"At the founding general meeting of Sanyo Railway on December 27, 1886, Mr. Denzaburo Fujita was appointed as the chairman of the founding committee, and Messrs. Heigoro Shoda, Rokuro Hara, and Hikojiro Nakamigawa were appointed as members of the committee. There, Mr. Motoyama acted as the representative for Mr. Fujita, handling the affairs of the founding committee chairman and making no small effort. At this time, Mr. Motoyama had Mr. Takuzo Ushiba (sic) enter Sanyo Railway, thereby repaying the old debt of gratitude for having him serve at the Hyogo Prefectural Office in the past."

However, at this point, no materials have been found to support Ushiba's entry into Sanyo Railway. "Repaying the old debt of gratitude" can be practically interpreted as entering Japan Engineering & Construction. Furthermore, Sanyo Railway commissioned Japan Engineering & Construction to conduct surveys prior to the application for company establishment. At that time, there was a shortage of engineers in the industry as a whole, so more than ten people were seconded from Japan Engineering & Construction. The section between Kobe and Himeji, for which Japan Engineering & Construction undertook the construction, opened in November 1888, and the section between Himeji and Okayama opened in March 1891. The two companies built a close relationship, especially during the construction period. During this time, no records have been found of Ushiba's active involvement in Japan Engineering & Construction. After 1889, Okura presided over Japan Engineering & Construction alone.

Around the same time, in October 1889, Ushiba founded Osaka Seigyo Co., Ltd. (later Imperial Brush Co., Ltd.) with Jutaro Matsumoto (one of the founders of Sanyo Railway) and others. Until Ushiba joined Sanyo Railway, he practically managed it alone. The company is known for being the first to use the name "Haburashi" (toothbrush) for a product exhibited at the 3rd National Industrial Exhibition in 1890, shortly after its founding.

In July 1890, Ushiba ran for the first House of Representatives election from the first district of Mie Prefecture but lost. In February 1892, he ran again from the same district in the 2nd general election and was elected, but he ended his career as a lawmaker after one term of two years. According to "Political Science at Keio," it is stated that he realized he was not suited for parliamentary activities.

Sanyo Railway was the first operator to be granted a license under the Private Railway Ordinance. The company's 20-year management history is broadly divided into the early period led by the first president, Nakamigawa, and the era led by Matsumoto and Ushiba. To meet the requirements of being a corner of Japan's main trunk lines and competing with coastal shipping, Nakamigawa aimed for the opening of the entire line by instructing construction to standards that are still valid today. Due to the strictness he demanded, friction with those around him became apparent, and Nakamigawa resigned as president in 1891. Matsumoto took over as president, and Motoyama newly joined Sanyo to fill the vacant slot of standing member (later director).

In April 1894, Ushiba joined Sanyo Railway Co., Ltd. as General Manager. It is said that he was in a position to practically handle management from the beginning on behalf of the busy Matsumoto. It was during the First Sino-Japanese War, and with the opening of the section between Mihara and Hiroshima, which includes the "Senohachi" section—still the most difficult part of the Sanyo Main Line—scheduled for June, the immediate goal was the opening of the entire line. In April 1898, as the westward progress reached Mitajiri (now Hofu) and the arrival at the terminus Bakan (now Shimonoseki) was in sight, Ushiba became a director (and was elected as Managing Director) in place of Motoyama, who retired to become an auditor.

Ushiba's achievements can be summarized in two points: his leadership within the company and his role as a leader for the entire industry.

Within the company, he is said to have brought executives together for new initiatives and made the company cooperate toward that single point. It is noteworthy that those executives were talented and included many Keio University graduates, with Ennosuke Nishino, head of the transportation department, and Seizo Ida, head of the accounting department, being well-known. Under Ushiba's command, the executives provided services for the first time in Japan, such as express trains, onboard electric lighting, dining cars, sleeping cars, and hotels directly managed by the railway at stations. The purpose was to be mindful of the competing Seto Inland Sea shipping routes, and the enhancement of the service aspect in particular attracted attention from other operators, pushing the company into a position of industry leadership.

Sanyo Railway had solidified its position as one of Japan's leading private railway operators. As its de facto top leader, Ushiba made repeated proposals not only to the industry but to society as a whole. In 1898, Ushiba accepted the position of Vice President (with the Presidency vacant) of the Railway Association. This association was established in Osaka by Sei Minami (who studied at Keio University for a time and became the president of Hankaku Railway after serving as the chief engineer of Sanyo Railway) and Kyoichi Murakami (a graduate of the Imperial University), and was characterized by being composed of individual members who were railway workers. In the association's journal, "Railway Times," Ushiba widely advocated for the ideal state of the railway business in Japan based on his experience at Sanyo Railway. Representative examples include the editorial "Policy for Railway Business" in Issue 14 (published May 28, 1899) and the editorial "Theory on Restricting Dividend Payments for Private Railways (1)–(6)" in Issues 329–334 (published January 1 to February 10, 1906). The paper was famous as Japan's first railway information paper, and Tatsuyasu Kinoshita, a graduate of the school, handled the publishing affairs, being called a pioneer of railway journalism through this work.

In March 1906, the Railway Nationalization Act was promulgated, and Ushiba declared, "As Sanyo Railway moves to government management, I shall leave the railway world to rest in a quiet place, and I have absolutely no intention of becoming a government official, no matter what position I am offered." Upon dissolution, he did not receive a single penny of allowance and distributed it to the employees. It is said that all the employees were moved and presented Ushiba with a gratitude fund and commemorative gifts. Those employees went on to let their cultivated abilities bloom in the business world. Nishino, his junior from the school, became the Managing Director of the Imperial Theatre, and Ida became the Managing Director of Kirin Brewery. The foster father of the railway was also a father to his employees.

After retiring from the railway world, he continued as a director of Imperial Brush Co., Ltd. (where his son Tetsuro Ushiba became president in 1902) and served as a director of Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Company from February 1908 to February 1916, taking over after Kakugoro Inoue's retirement. Chiyoda Life had been founded by Kadono, who was from the same hometown and had served as president since its inception. In his final years, he rested at his home overlooking the Akashi Strait (now Shioya-cho, Tarumi-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture) and ended his life in March 1922.