Kinsuke Ito

Image: Courtesy of the Keio Institute for Fukuzawa Studies

The newspaper business, which published the "Jiji Shinpo," was one of the important projects undertaken by Yukichi Fukuzawa. Kinsuke Ito, the subject of this article, studied at Keio University and played a major role in an era of the "Jiji Shinpo." After working for the Bank of Japan, he eventually acquired a newspaper company himself and managed its operations.

Kinsuke Ito was born on August 4, 1857, as the youngest child (second son) of Ichiemon Ito, a samurai of the Hagi Domain. Ichiemon was said to be a man of great learning who taught at the domain school, Meirinkan, but he died at the age of 40 the year after Kinsuke was born. Kinsuke's childhood name was Yagoro. He was robust and active, yet he was a child who never quarreled with others and handled things with care. At the age of 15, he was adopted into the Hayashi family of the same domain as a son-in-law and began using the surname Hayashi, and eventually his son, Ryutaro, was born.

Kinsuke began his studies at the Meirinkan domain school, then moved to Tokyo to enter the Kogyokusha, and finally entered the Keio University Juku in June 1877. According to his classmates at the Juku, he was skilled with the abacus and received perfect marks in mathematics. At that time, debating was active within Keio, and he stood out for his eloquent speeches at the Yukosha, a society he formed with Tsuyoshi Inukai and Yasukata Murai.

Around this time, his relationship with his adoptive father in the Hayashi family deteriorated, leading to the dissolution of the adoption, and he returned to the Ito surname. After graduating in April 1879, he wrote for the "Shizuoka Shimbun" and the "Chinzei Nippo" in Nagasaki, and in 1885, he became a reporter for the "Jiji Shinpo." After Hikojiro Nakamigawa, the president who was the core of the paper, became the president of Sanyo Railway, Ito took charge of the editing of the "Jiji Shinpo."

In 1886, Ito and Eizo Akagawa were sentenced to eight months of minor imprisonment and a fine of 30 yen for violating the Newspaper Ordinance by sending 300 copies of a "Report" to newspaper companies and banks without permission ("Tokyo Asahi"). Given the length of the sentence, it is suspected that the content was deemed a threat to public order, rather than just a lack of permission (which carried a maximum of six months). Upon his release in May of the following year, Fukuzawa provided money for Ito and asked Teikyu Okamoto to assist him. Exhausted by prison life, Ito tried hard to study, but remained in a weakened state for some time, and Fukuzawa worried about his physical and mental health.

In July of the same year, after observing his condition, Fukuzawa entrusted Ito with the role of "Editor-in-Chief" of the "Jiji Shinpo" following Nakamigawa's departure. Later, Fukuzawa appointed Minoru Sakata to handle accounting and decided to leave the management of the Jiji Shinpo-sha to Ito and Sakata, arranging for them to be able to make an independent living. In fact, when land adjacent to the Kojunsha was put up for sale, Fukuzawa moved to purchase it for company housing and had Ito live there.

In October, young reporters Mikiaki Ishikawa and Osamu Watanabe began to voice objections to Ito within the company. The dissatisfaction of the youth lay in the fact that power was concentrated in editing, and they felt their work as reporters was "labor without reward." At that time, the young reporters "spoke unsettling words," and an atmosphere of unrest drifted through the office. Fukuzawa, the de facto owner, harshly criticized the two, saying "both Watanabe and Ishikawa are poor writers" and "useless boys are unnecessary," siding with Ito, who was engaged in management. The conflict was resolved through Fukuzawa's persuasion ("Collected Letters of Yukichi Fukuzawa," Vol. 6).

In Fukuzawa's estimation, Ito was not only older but also wise, handled matters briskly, and was eager to learn. At the time, Fukuzawa, who checked every corner of the articles, was said to get furious when he found mistakes. However, Ito, as the Editor-in-Chief, took it all upon himself, listening in silence without making any excuses, which further deepened Fukuzawa's trust in him. It is said that Ito always handled the furigana for the editorials written by Fukuzawa, as he understood Fukuzawa's unique style.

During his time at Jiji Shinpo, Ito's daily routine involved arriving at the office around 11:00 AM, reading at the Kojunsha, and when the manuscripts were ready in the evening, a servant would go to call him. Upon his return, he would work on editing until around midnight. After Sakata transferred to become the head of the Yochisha, Ito also took charge of accounting. When Japan's first rotary printing press was introduced, he directed the workers based on his own research and saw everything through from assembly to installation. Furthermore, as a reporter, his articles rarely featured long, essay-like styles; instead, he excelled at sharp satire in short commentaries.

Perhaps because he was from Choshu, he had a network with Hirobumi Ito, and he not only obtained important information as a reporter but also acted as a de facto staff officer. However, Ito's strength of character was such that this did not soften his criticism of the domain cliques. In his reporting on the Sino-Japanese War, he used his connections to land scoops, contributing to the expansion of circulation. Fukuzawa also appreciated Ito's work, granting him an extraordinary bonus of 1,000 yen at the end of 1894, and his annual salary jumped to 3,000 yen the following year.

Later, Ito transitioned from being a journalist to the business world. This happened because Yanosuke Iwasaki, who was approached to become the Governor of the Bank of Japan, consulted Fukuzawa. Because Iwasaki hesitated due to having no acquaintances at the Bank of Japan, Fukuzawa encouraged him to accept the position by offering to have Ito accompany him.

In December 1896, Ito was appointed as the Assistant Manager of the Bank of Japan. His annual salary was 1,500 yen. He served as the Issuing Department Officer and the Secretary Department Officer, and was heavily relied upon as a right-hand man by Governors Iwasaki and Tatsuo Yamamoto, frequently entering the executive offices. Ito was knowledgeable and a "Navy expert," and it is said that the Bank of Japan's luncheons were dominated by Ito's talks on the Navy (Jiro Yamana, "Secret Stories of Great Men"). Additionally, from February to October 1898, he was ordered to inspect banking operations in Western countries, but he also seems to have researched the newspaper business.

Later, when Shigeyoshi Matsuo of the Ministry of Finance became Governor, Ito's de facto treatment as an executive ended, and the opportunities for him to demonstrate his abilities gradually disappeared. Ultimately, in May 1906, he retired from the Bank of Japan for health reasons. When former Governor Yamamoto, who had been consulted beforehand, tried to persuade him to stay because a path to a future executive position was visible, Ito stated clearly: "Joining the Bank of Japan was a temporary stop from the beginning; my ambition lies in managing a newspaper company. I can acquire either the 'Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun' or 'Nippon,' or both depending on negotiations, but since 'Tokyo Nichi Nichi' is too expensive, I will take over 'Nippon'." As expected, joining the Bank of Japan had been at Fukuzawa's request and was not his true intention.

Subsequently, he acquired the "Nippon" newspaper company, which had been founded by Katsunan Kuga, and embarked on its management. The funding for the acquisition is said to have come not only from his savings but also from 80,000 yen in profits from a mine he had invested in with friends. In a public notice published in various papers, Ito expressed his aspirations to "strive to follow the influential newspapers of Europe and America." Drawing on his experience in managing the Jiji Shinpo-sha, he declared an independent path, saying he would "proceed only according to my own convictions" without bringing in other capital.

However, the employees revolted against the new president Ito's populist reforms, which differed from the previous high-toned content specialized in politics and literature, and eventually a conflict broke out. In the end, 22 reporters, led by Editor-in-Chief Setsurei Miyake, resigned. Upon their departure, the reporters cursed Ito as "powerless, incompetent, and ignorant." They renamed the magazine "Nihonjin" to "Nippon oyobi Nihonjin" and claimed to be the legitimate successors of the "Nippon" newspaper.

Ito, left behind, showed no signs of giving up. He handled everything from editing the pages to arranging the typesetting, showing the spirit to publish the newspaper alone (Takao Sei, "Remembering the Late Mr. Kinsuke Ito," "Diamond"). Later, he hired new talent, exerted his influence by focusing on economic theory, and once even criticized and forced the withdrawal of a bond issuance by the Katsura Cabinet.

Ito later managed the "Nippon" newspaper with the help of Keio-educated businessmen such as Eiji Asabuki and Seihin Ikeda. However, the business suffered a blow from a fire caused by arson at the company building at the end of 1914, forcing its discontinuation. Tatsuo Yamamoto analyzed that a major factor in the failure of Ito's newspaper business, which he thought would surely succeed, was that Ito's specialty in economic theory was not favored by the readers of "Nippon," which had been a political newspaper.

In addition, as a manager, he served as a director for Chiyoda Life Insurance and Nippon Flour Mills. Furthermore, at the request of Kenkichi Ishiyama, a Keio University alumni who founded the economic magazine "Diamond" after working as a reporter for the "Nippon" newspaper, Ito took on the role of supervisor for the magazine. He continued to write articles three times a month for 14 years until a few months before his death.

Keio University began raising funds from 1889 with the aim of establishing a college. At that time, Hikojiro Nakamigawa and Ito, acting on Fukuzawa's wishes, worked behind the scenes to lobby the Ministry of the Imperial Household for an imperial grant. Nakamigawa requested Yajiro Shinagawa, the Director-General of the Imperial Estate Bureau, and Ito persuaded Prime Minister Aritomo Yamagata. As a result, 1,000 yen was granted for "educating human resources for many years and contributing significantly." Fukuzawa not only sent letters of thanks to Yamagata and Shinagawa but also shared the news widely with his associates, unable to hide his joy at the prospect of realizing the establishment of the college.

Ito continued to participate in the management of Keio University, serving as a councilor and trustee, and was also involved in the decision to establish the School of Medicine.

On one occasion, Fukuzawa described Ito as a "heroic figure." Although he had a gentle personality, his heroic nature was said to be evident in his consistent criticism of domain cliques while being among the Choshu faction, and in the sharpness of his arguments when criticizing the Katsura Cabinet during the Movement to Protect Constitutional Government. Ito loved to talk so much that he never ran out of topics even if he talked all night, and at the Kojunsha, he was nicknamed "Ito Koshaku" (Ito the Lecturer), a play on his name and the word for storytelling.

On the other hand, he was a man of deep feeling. He worried about the family of a worker who died in the fire at the "Nippon" newspaper company and made various arrangements to send condolence money to the bereaved family. When he received a report that the family was grateful, he felt relieved but continued to care about them long afterward ("Collected Works of Kinsuke Ito," Vol. 2). Some also believe that the reason he maintained his criticism of domain cliques and did not seek advancement through his Choshu connections was strongly influenced by the education in independence and self-respect he received from Fukuzawa.

In Ito's eyes, Fukuzawa was a "brilliant person." He also recalled that Fukuzawa had a common touch, listening to the long stories of country people until the end, and then rushing to his next appointment while grumbling about being "busy." And while Fukuzawa spoke of the value of money, he had no aim for profit, so Ito said, "The master is a Genroku-era samurai" ("Fukuo Kunwa").