Taizo Abe

Image: Keio Institute for Fukuzawa Studies

Taizo Abe was the founder of Meiji Life, Japan's first life insurance company, and one of the senior disciples in whom Yukichi Fukuzawa placed the most trust.

"No matter what profession you engage in, you must do it with sufficient enthusiasm. By enthusiasm, I do not mean acting blindly on impulse... There are often people in the world who say that scholarship is unnecessary or useless. I hope that you will not become sinners against scholarship in the future, but will apply what you have learned at this school to the work of your parents' professions, or the companies, banks, or factories where you are employed, and utilize this scholarship with enthusiasm" (Keio Gijuku Gakuho No. 142). These are the words Abe spoke at a graduation ceremony for the School of Commerce and Industry that once existed at Keio University. Throughout his life, Abe loved scholarship, supported the Juku, and faced his profession in insurance with great enthusiasm.

Taizo Abe was born in 1849 as the fourth son of Genko Toyoda, a physician in Shimoyoshida Village, Yana District, Mikawa Province. In 1860, he was adopted by Sankei Abe, a physician for the Toyohashi Domain. Although born into and adopted by medical families, Abe "hated doctors," feeling that "doctors at the time were looked upon similarly to monks and had very poor social standing." Therefore, he decided to "become a Confucian scholar" and began studying under the Confucian scholar Setsudo Saito in Ise in 1863. However, he gradually became attracted to Western studies (Rangaku) and went to Edo at the age of 16 in 1864 to study under Genrui Sugita and Saburosuke Nakajima. After attending Shinkei Aochi's school to study English studies with Aritomo Hayashi and Heigoro Shoda, he entered Fukuzawa's school in Teppozu in 1868.

In April of the same year, shortly after the school moved to Shiba Shinsenza, the Battle of Ueno broke out with the Shogitai. The scene of Fukuzawa continuing his lecture on Wayland's political economy even as the roar of cannons thundered is one of the origins of Keio University, and it is still passed down today in the lyrics of "Yukichi Fukuzawa is Here," sung by students of the Elementary School and Yochisha. Abe was one of the 18 Keio students who heard that lecture, later remarking, "It happened to be a rainy day."

During his two and a half years at the school, he served as the Jukuto (President), though the position rotated every three months. Shoda, who reunited with him at Keio University, recalled, "In less than two years, Mr. Abe had become a completely different person." Fukuzawa's school during the Teppozu era was known as "the most flourishing among private schools" but had a reputation for being "disorderly and rowdy." However, at Shinsenza, "it had become the exact opposite of its public reputation." Abe and others during the Aochi school era were high-spirited and "played around quite a bit, drinking sake with women," but at Shinsenza, "those who went to teahouses or restaurants had a bad reputation within Keio," and he was surprised to see them dressed plainly without swords, "completely unconcerned with their appearance."

In 1870, after completing his studies, Abe took a professorship at Daigaku Nanko (predecessor of the University of Tokyo) by government order. The following year, he worked for the newly established Ministry of Education, engaging in the translation of Western books. At that time, he translated Wayland's "The Elements of Moral Science," which had been highly valued within Keio, and published it as the only ethics textbook issued by the Ministry of Education. According to Albert Miyan Martin, Abe's translation was a "good translation" that skillfully paraphrased the original meanings—such as translating Christ as "Saint" and God as "Heaven" (Ten)—to "fulfill the ultimate goal of disseminating the ideas of a civilized society without causing much resistance among the Japanese people of the time." (Albert Miyan Martin, "The 'Heaven' of 'The Elements of Moral Science'"). Abe had learned from Fukuzawa that translations that do not "change a single word or phrase of the original" are "difficult to read and uninteresting." He was likely strongly influenced by the idea that "it is better to follow the Ogata (Koan) style of translating the meaning for quick understanding; since a translation is not for people who read the original, the essential thing is to make it understandable to the reader."

Abe had married Ikuno, the daughter of his stepfather Sankei Abe, but Ikuno died around this time due to a cold while pregnant with their second child. Abe briefly returned to the Juku to become a teacher, but in 1876 he returned to the Ministry of Education and was dispatched to the Centennial Exposition in the United States as an attendant to Fujimaro Tanaka, the Senior Vice Minister of Education, where he broadened his horizons. After returning to Japan, he married his second wife, Yuko, the daughter of Kageaki Matano (a samurai of the Tsuruoka Domain who taught Chinese classics at the Juku), through an introduction by Fukuzawa.

Furthermore, Fukuzawa himself asked Abe, a fellow provincial, to act as a mediator when his eldest daughter married Sadakichi Nakamura. Fukuzawa relied on Abe, frequently calling upon him for consultations within Keio. They were also comrades in a reading circle and shogi partners. Abe contributed deeply to the launch and development of Kojunsha, and Fukuzawa praised the "efforts of Mr. Obata and Mr. Abe" at the time.

Fukuzawa had taken notice of the insurance system early on, introducing it as "disaster guarantee" in his 1867 publication "Guide to travel in the western world." Within Keio, the establishment of a life insurance company became a topic of discussion among Tokujirō Obata, Nobukichi Koizumi, Heigoro Shoda, and others who gathered under Fukuzawa at the end of 1879. In 1881, the plan to found a life insurance company was finalized within Keio, and Taizo Abe was the one put "in charge." This became Meiji Life. Abe had long been concerned about providing relief for bereaved families who had lost their breadwinners following the abolition of the feudal system, making him the ideal person for the role. He invited fellow disciple Seiichi Mozume to be the manager and became the president himself. During the startup phase, they struggled with a "near total lack of books" and a "dearth of research materials," borrowing books from the Mitsubishi Commercial School and Kaoru Inoue until they were finally able to "attain a general understanding of what insurance was."

In the first month of operation, they achieved a result of 291 policyholders, but the majority were disciples of Fukuzawa or employees of companies related to the Keio Gijuku Shachu. Abe further traveled across the country himself, using meetings of Kojunsha members as bases to work on promotion and increasing policyholders. Even so, they initially approached the business with the mindset that "it was not started for the purpose of profit, so the company directors were content to be unpaid, and even those who were paid received very low salaries."

According to Eikichi Kamada, Fukuzawa was determined to make his disciples' first-in-Japan initiative a success; he joined the insurance himself and discussed insurance in his public speaking and writings. He reportedly told graduates who had earned a monthly salary to "first join life insurance," going so far as to say that "those who do not join insurance at all are 'humans' below the level of a servant." (Meiji Life, "Biography of Taizo Abe")

Around this time, Abe's older brother, Jumpei Takeda, who was the chairman of the Aichi Prefectural Assembly, was brutally murdered after being stabbed 14 times by an assassin. No historical materials have been found where Abe himself mentions this. However, while Abe was naturally serious and cautious, he reportedly became even more timid from this time on (according to his grandson, Shinzo Abe). The deaths of his wife and brother may have had no small influence on Abe as he faced the insurance business.

In 1886, a major cholera epidemic led to an increase in deaths among policyholders, and insurance payouts surged. Combined with the effects of Matsukata's fiscal policy, it became a "disaster since the founding," but after surviving this, management stabilized. In 1891, he established the Meiji Fire Insurance Company and also participated in the management of Tokio Marine, Nippon Yusen, and Tokyo Warehouse. In 1898, he launched the "Life Insurance Discussion Group (later the Life Insurance Association of Japan)" with Eiichi Shibusawa and others, and Abe was elected as its first chairman.

In 1916, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Meiji Life and the 25th anniversary of Meiji Fire, the "Ceremony to Honor Mr. Taizo Abe" was planned by 80 promoters from various fields to praise his achievements. It received a tremendous response from people who admired Abe's character; about 400 dignitaries from the public and private sectors and insurance professionals attended, and the donations reached a large sum. Eiichi Shibusawa said in his congratulatory speech, "Mr. Abe's insurance business was managed not by 'extensive reading' but by 'intensive reading,' which allowed it to grow with firm roots." Tatsuo Yamamoto, a banker and politician, praised the rare achievement of Abe and Keio University in pioneering the life insurance industry in that era without government encouragement.

The donations were used for commemorative items such as a marble bust, but the surplus was entrusted to Abe. Abe donated it to the school to establish the "Abe Library," stating, "I wish to donate this to Keio University, the birthplace of life insurance, so that the interest can be used to purchase books related to life insurance and contribute to its development."

Furthermore, Abe had saved the Juku on numerous occasions. First, during the Satsuma Rebellion, he and Tokujirō Obata persuaded Fukuzawa, who had decided to close the school due to financial difficulties, to keep it open. He then called upon the Keio Gijuku Shachu to start the first fundraising for maintenance funds, saving the school from crisis. In 1901, when the question of whether to continue the school was debated after Fukuzawa's death, Abe, as a member of the finance committee, worked with Shoda, the chairman of the Board of Councilors, to overcome the hardships. He also spearheaded the purchase of the Tsunamachi playground site and the opening of the School of Commerce and Industry. According to Kango Koyama, Abe was a valuable presence for the Juku at the time, someone who "could speak on the management of the Gijuku with real influence." Above all, Abe repeatedly brought enormous donations to the Juku to cover deficits in operating expenses and continued to support his alma mater.

Abe worked energetically and devotedly, even going on an insurance tour of the Korea and Manchuria regions in the year of his commendation ceremony, and finally retired from the life insurance world the following year at the age of 67. In his final speech, he looked back on his 37 years, saying, "The relationship between the authorities and all of you has been extremely harmonious, without a single conflict or clash, and the proposals submitted by the authorities to the general meeting of shareholders always passed as originally drafted. Therefore, I have performed my duties with a sense of pleasure from beginning to end."

After retirement, Abe spent his remaining years with his large family (he was blessed with 9 sons and 4 daughters; his third daughter, Tomi, was the wife of Shinzo Koizumi), but he injured his thigh when a glass pane fell at a hot spring he was visiting. He passed away in 1924 at the age of 76 due to the aftereffects.

According to his fourth son, Shozo Abe (the novelist Takitaro Minakami), "My father hated waste extremely," was a "man of few words," and was "not the type to boast." Part of this was due to the culture of the Juku at the time, which did not favor ceremonies, but during his time as an official, he never once attended festivities or holiday events. His public speaking was said to be "constructed of well-chosen words without a single wasted syllable." Furthermore, it is said that "my father took a job different from his childhood aspirations, and although he succeeded, his longing to be a scholar never changed throughout his life." He reportedly said, "No one can lead their life exactly as they wish. I wanted to do nothing but scholarship, but I had to support my family, so I proceeded down this path" (Takitaro Minakami, "Kaikara Tsuiho 2"). Knowing these feelings and re-reading the opening remarks at the School of Commerce and Industry, one can glimpse the anguish and pride of the quiet Abe, as well as his love and sincerity in conveying his own life lessons to the students.