The Establishment of the Daito Bunka Association and Daito Bunka Gakuin were approved.

Enkichi Oki (1871 - 1926)

Oki served as the first president of the Daito Bunka Association.

Oki was a politician from the latter part of the Meiji period to the Taisho period. He successively held a variety of posts. He was a member of the House of Peers, minister of justice and minister of railways.

He was the heir of Takato Oki, the first minister of education. Oki jun. did not receive a formal education because he was sickly. His father and private tutors taught him at home, where an extensive collection of his father’s books surrounded him.

Oki succeeded to the title of count in November 1899 upon his father’s death that September. He was 28 years old at the time.

Oki entered politics in 1908 when he became a member of the House of Peers. There he formed a group called the Hakushaku Doshikai (the Society of Comradely Counts) in opposition to a group of ex-bureaucrats. He combined the Hakushaku Doshikai with the Kenkyukai, another faction in the House of Peers, in 1919.

From 1920, Oki served as minister of justice in the Hara and Takahashi cabinets. He joined the cabinet headed by Tomosaburo Kato as minister of railways in 1922. After retiring from government service due to the resignation of the entire cabinet (in August 1923), Oki was devoted to the combination of the Rikken Seiyukai, a political party, with the Seiyuhonto, another political party.

In addition to his role as president of the Daito Bunka Association, Oki served as a director at many private organizations, including the Teikoku Kodokai (Imperial Highway Association), the Dainihon Kokusuikai (Great Japan Patriotic Society), and the Teikoku Nokai (Imperial Farmers' Association). He was also known as an ultranationalist.

At the age of 56, Oki died of heart failure at an inn in Kyoto on his way back from Beppu, Kyushu, on February 14, 1926.

Heikichi Ogawa (1870 - 1942)

Ogawa was the first vice president and the fourth president of the Daito Bunka Association.

Ogawa was an active politician from the Meiji period to the first half of the Showa period. He served as an executive officer at the Rikken Seiyukai. As a cabinet member, Ogawa held various posts, including minister of justice and minister of railways. He assumed the pen name of Shasan.

Ogawa was the third son of eight children born to the kimono fabric dealer Kinzo Ogawa and his wife Aiko in Misayamagodo, Fujimi-mura, Suwa-gun, Nagano Prefecture. The Ogawas were a distinguished family in this area and owned considerable properties.

After graduating from the Buddhism course in the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in 1892, Ogawa became a lawyer (then called "daigennin", renamed "bengoshi" in the following year with the enforcement of the Attorney Act). He organized the Nihon Bengoshi Kyokai (Japan Lawyers’ Association) in 1897. Ogawa aimed to reform the administration of justice. He assumed office as president of the Tokyo Bar Association in 1918.

Ogawa joined the Rikken Seiyukai simultaneously with its formation in 1900. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1903, but started the Seiyukai reform movement and left. Ogawa rejoined the Rikken Seiyukai following Hirobumi Ito’s death in 1910. He became secretary-general of the Rikken Seiyukai in 1915.

Ogawa became president of the census institute under prime minister Takashi Hara in 1920. Ogawa resigned as a result of the resignation of the entire Takahashi cabinet in June 1922. Ogawa then served as minister of justice in the first Takaaki Kato cabinet (a cabinet formed by three factions in favor of the protection of the constitution) in 1925 and as minister of railways in the Giichi Tanaka cabinet in 1927.

At the same time, Ogawa was involved in the establishment of the Daito Bunka Association and Daito Bunka Gakuin. He served successively as vice president and president of the Daito Bunka Association.

Ogawa was imprisoned for involvement in a suspected bribery case in connection with the acquisition of five private railways during his term as minister of railways in 1929. He was found guilty in 1936 despite the temporary decision of not guilty. The ruling ended his political career. In connection with this development, Ogawa resigned as president of the Daito Bunka Association.

He was known as an ultranationalist. Ogawa began to show interest in continental affairs and issues involving East Asia around 1897 as well as the solution of ideological issues in Japan. After retiring from politics, Ogawa continued working actively in domestic and overseas affairs. In particular, he insisted on taking a hard line regarding issues in Manchuria and the Soviet Union and advocated for active continental policies. However, Ogawa asserted the need for direct peace talks with Chiang Kai-shek at the start of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45). He was involved in peace movements by approaching military authorities and other actions. Those movements failed, but Ogawa maintained his strong opposition to a controlled economy, the Tripartite Pact (with Naz-Germany and Fascist Italy in 1940) and the start of a war against the United States from his position as an ultranationalist.

Ogawa died on February 5, 1942.

He was blessed with ten children. Many of Ogawa’s family members became famous in political and business circles. Former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa was one of his grandchildren (a child of his second daughter Koto).

Kiichiro Hiranuma (1867 - 1952)

First president of Daito Bunka Gakuin and third president of the Daito Bunka Association.

Hiranuma was a judicial officer and a politician who was active from the Meiji period to the first half of the Showa period. He was the 35th prime minister. Hiranuma assumed the pen name of Kigai.

Hiranuma was the second son of Shin Hiranuma, a clansman of the Tsuyama domain, in Tsuyama, Mimasaka Province (now Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture). Yoshiro Hiranuma, economic history scholar and Doctor of Law, who served as president of Waseda University, was his elder brother.

Hiranuma moved to Tokyo with his family in 1872. He studied Chinese classics, English and arithmetic from former Tsuyama domain clansmen Kosai Udagawa and Shuhei Mitsukuri (founder of Sansagakusha, a private school). Subsequently, Hiranuma enrolled in a preparatory course for the University of Tokyo in 1878, and entered the University’s Faculty of Law in 1883. Hiranuma graduated from the Imperial University at the top of his class in 1888.

Hiranuma became a probationary counselor at the ministry of justice in the same year. He worked in the civil affairs bureau. Then Hiranuma served as probationary judge at courts of justice in a variety of areas and judge at the Tokyo Court of Appeals. He was awarded the title of Doctor of Law in recognition of his service. Hiranuma was appointed as public prosecutor general in 1912. He took charge of cases, including the Siemens Scandal, the Home Minister Oura Case and the Yawata Steel Works Case, in the subsequent decade.

Hiranuma assumed office as minister of justice in the second Yamamoto cabinet in 1923. He was nominated as a member of the House of Peers in January 1924. However, he was appointed as privy councilor the following month. He assumed office as chairman of the Privy Council in 1936. Hiranuma also received the title of baron in 1925.

He formed a cabinet in January 1939 to assume duties from the Fumimaro Konoe cabinet. However, the entire cabinet resigned in eight months, mired in issues, such as rising international tensions due to the worsening of the global situation and the reconciliation of antagonistic forces domestically. Hiranuma assumed office as minister of home affairs in the second Konoe cabinet in December 1940. He remained in the third Konoe cabinet as minister of state.

Already much earlier, Hiranuma had established Mukyukai in 1915. He reorganized Kokuhonsha, a right-wing political organization, and became its president in 1926. He also agreed to lead Syuyodan. He aimed to promote the learning of Eastern ethics and the national spirit as an advocate of ultranationalism. In addition, Hiranuma assumed office as the second president of the Toyo Bunka Gakkai (Eastern Culture Society), created the Toyo Bunka Kenkyujo (Oriental Culture Research Institute), and became the founding director.

Hiranuma served as president of Nihon University from 1923 to 1932, the same period when he was the first president of Daito Bunka Gakuin.

He was generally considered to be a figure with far-reaching influences over bureaucrats and the Privy Council, mainly in legal circles. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Hiranuma was prosecuted as a class-A war criminal in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without work. Hiranuma was released on parole because of illness in 1952. He died on August 22 of that year.

Hiranuma assumed office as first president of Daito Bunka Gakuin simultaneously with its establishment in January 1924. He remained in that position until January 1925. In addition, Hiranuma was involved in deciding on Daito Bunka Gakuin’s school policies as a member of the pre-establishment committee for organizing the school platform and rules. He also took charge of the school subject compilation as chairman of the committee for establishing school subjects and courses of study.

At the first opening ceremony for the school held on January 11, 1924, Hiranuma stated the objective for Daito Bunka Gakuin’s establishment, saying that the school aimed to promote and spread Confucianism, which had assisted the 2,000 years of Imperial rule and refined the national polity and that school rules clarify this particular goal by establishing a course on Imperial studies. Positioning this as the ultimate goal, Hiranuma suggested that Daito Bunka Gakuin was the top educational institution for Chinese classics taught by prominent faculty members, saying that they were authorities in the respective schools of thought and great Confucian scholars of the day and that students would not regret devoting themselves to studies and taking the first step to delve into the mysteries of Confucianism.

Daito Bunka Gakuin’s faculty members included many prominent scholars in its early period. Tetsujiro Inoue, who would become second president of Daito Bunka Gakuin, took charge of philosophy. Other prominent early faculty members included Fusaaki Uzawa and Mannosuke Yamaoka in charge of law, and Yasukuni Matsudaira, Kenjiro Makino and Shuhei Uchida in charge of Chinese classics. Philosopher Reikichi Kita lectured on logic and psychology. Hiranuma’s brother, Yoshiro Hiranuma, also taught at Daito Bunka Gakuin as professor of economics since the school’s inauguration. The realization of such a faculty consisting of leading authorities in their respective fields with national and private university backgrounds is assumed to be significantly due to the many contacts of Hiranuma.

Hiranuma held office as president for just one year. However, voices respecting his educational policies remained for a long period afterward. He laid the foundation for education at Daito Bunka Gakuin.

Tetsujiro Inoue (1855 - 1944)

Inoue, who assumed the pen name of Sonken, was a philosopher active in the Meiji and Taisho periods. He was from Dazaifu, Chikuzen Province (now Fukuoka Prefecture). Inoue graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University. The publication of Shintaishisho (A Selection of New Style Verse) with Masakazu Toyama and Ryokichi Yatabe brought Inoue fame in 1882. Inoue went to Germany for his studies in 1884. He pursued German idealism. Inoue returned to Japan in 1890 and took office as the first Japanese professor at the Tokyo Imperial University’s Faculty of Philosophy. Inoue retired from teaching in 1923.

In 1891, Inoue published Chokugoengi, an annotated edition of the Imperial Rescript on Education a year after the latter’s issuance and supplied the Imperial Rescript with a philosophical background. Inoue also wrote a serialized article titled Kyoiku to Shukyo no Shototsu (Conflict between Education and Religion) in a magazine. It denounced Christianity as a religion against the national polity and evoked a massive response. In the subsequent period, Inoue consistently discussed the existence of national morality under the emperor system.

In February 1925, Inoue assumed office as the second president of Daito Bunka Gakuin. He remained in this position until October 1926. Inoue also contributed articles to several issues of Daito Bunka Magazine, including the inaugural one (published in March 1924). Criticism emerged against the lack of respect in his interpretation of the three sacred treasures (sword, mirror, jewel) of imperial rule in his book Waga Kokutai to Kokumin Dotoku (Our National Polity and National Morality) in 1926. Inoue resigned from all public offices, including those at Daito Bunka Gakuin, to avoid escalation of the issue.

Major books by Inoue include Sonken Ronbunshu (Collection of Essays by Sonken [= Tetsujiro Inoue] ), Nihon Yomeigakuha no Tetsugaku (Philosophy of the Wang Yangming School in Japan), Nihon Kogakuha no Tetsugaku (Philosophy of the Kogaku School of Confucianism in Japan), Nihon Shushigakuha no Tetsugaku (Philosophy of the Zhu Xi School in Japan) and Kokumin Dotoku Gairon (Introduction to National Morality). He died at the age of 88.

Teachers in the Early Days

Tetsuji Morohashi (1883 - 1982

Professor
Daito Bunka Gakuin
Professor Emeritus
Tokyo Bunrika University
First President of Tsuru University

Morohashi assumed the pen name of Shiken. Morohashi was born in Morimachimura, Nankan-gun, Niigata Prefecture (now Shimoda, Sanjo City). He went to China in 1919 to study for two years after graduating from Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko (which later became Tokyo Bunrika University, then Tokyo University of Education, which is the predecessor of today's University of Tsukuba). After returning to Japan, Morohashi assumed the post of professor at Daito Bunka Gakuin simultaneously with its establishment in 1923.

In the same period, Morohashi worked on compiling Dai Kan-Wa Jiten (The Great Chinese-Japanese Dictionary) for Taishukan Publishing Co., Ltd. According to one theory, he accepted work on this project partly based on his view that it was perfect for helping students at Daito Bunka Gakuin with their living expenses.

Morohashi retired from service at Daito Bunka Gakuin in 1929 to participate in the establishment and formation of the Chinese classics course at Tokyo Bunrika University, his alma mater. Morohashi engaged in education at Kokugakuin University and Tsuru University after many years of service as a professor at Tokyo Bunrika University.

In the course of his long life, Morohashi carried out a lot of research, including supervision over the already mentioned 15-volume Dai Kan-Wa Jiten.

The house where he was born remains as it was. The Tetsuji Morohashi Memorial Hall was built adjacent to it.

Shigeta Oyanagi (1870 - 1940)

Oyanagi was born in Kamihonaimura, Niigata Prefecture (now Kaminohai, Sanjo). Oyanagi entered the Tokyo Imperial University in September 1891 and pursued Chinese classics after studying at Chozenkan, a private school in Yoshida-machi, Nishi Kanbara-gun. After graduating, Oyanagi taught Chinese classics at many institutions of higher education, including Tetsugakukan (now Toyo University), Gakushuin University, Tokyo Imperial University, Kokugakuin University, and Keio University.

Oyanagi became a professor at Daito Bunka Gakuin in April 1926. Subsequently, he put all his effort into the development of Daito Bunka Gakuin and education. Oyanagi became the principal (kyo-to) of Daito Bunka Gakuin in 1938 and became the only person called "president" during the period when the school name was Daito Bunka Gakuin, because the former title of "kyo-to" was changed to "gaku-cho" (president) for the period between April and December 1940.

As a Doctor of Literature, Oyanagi was the leading authority on the Chinese classics and Taoism. Oyanagi is mainly known as supervising editor of Shinshu Kan-Wa Dai Jiten (Revised Chinese-Japanese Dictionary). Still he also left behind many other books, including Roso no Shiso to Dokyo (The Philosophy of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, and Taoism) and Toyo Shiso no Kenkyu (Studies of Oriental Thinking), based on his energetic studies.

Mizuho Kawada (1879 - 1951)

Assistant professor
Daito Bunka Gakuin
Professor
Waseda University

Kawada was born in Kochi Prefecture. He took his pen name, Setsuzan, from Sekkozan, a mountain in his home region of Tosa (Kochi Prefecture). Kawada was a scholar of Chinese classics, active from the Meiji period to the first half of the Showa period.

Kawada entered the Department of Politics and Economics at Tokyo Senmon Gakko (now Waseda University) after studying Chinese classics from Baigai Yamamoto, his senior from Tosa, at Baiseishojuku, a private school Yamamoto had opened in Osaka. Kawada worked hard to establish the Daito Bunka Association and Daito Bunka Gakuin in 1923. He took charge of Nihon Seiki, a history book, and other studies as an assistant professor. Kawada moved to the higher normal school affiliated with Waseda University (which later became the university’s Faculty of Education) as a professor in 1930. There he taught Chinese classics until 1950.

Kawada also played a central role in the early years of Mukyukai, which was established by Kiichiro Hiranuma, first president of Daito Bunka Gakuin. There he served as acting president and director. He was also devoted to the study and dissemination of Chinese classics throughout his lifetime as one of Toyo Bunka Gakkai’s founders.

At the end of the Pacific War, Kawada drafted the Imperial Rescript on Surrender as a temporary employee of the secretariat for the Kantaro Suzuki cabinet. This Imperial Rescript came into effect after being edited by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hisatsune Sakomizu, and Ministry of Greater East Asia advisor Masahiro Yasuoka, a neo-confucianist of the Wang Yangming School.

As a reference, the following well-known opening phrase in the Imperial Rescript remained the same as in the original draft by Setsuzan Kawada. “To our good and loyal subjects: after pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in Our Empire today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure.”

In addition to Kawada, Sakomizu and Yasuoka, many prominent figures in academic society participated in the production of the Imperial Rescript.

Major scholars of Chinese classics involved in Daito Bunka Gakuin from its establishment to the early days include Confucian scripture scholar Kotaro Yasui (Bokudo Yasui), the author of Nihon Jugakushi (History of Confucianism in Japan); Shirojiro Ikeda, a known expert on Japanese history; Neoconfucianist Tetsuji Morohashi (Shiken Morohashi), the supervising editor of Dai Kan-Wa Jiten, the largest Chinese-Japanese dictionary in the world consisting of 15 volumes; Mizuho Kawada (Setsuzan Kawada), who drafted the Imperial Rescript on Surrender at the point of Japan’s defeat in 1945; Chinese-style poet Hisayasu Tsuchiya (Chiku-u Tsuchiya), referred to as the last great poet in that style; Confucian scripture scholar Kenjiro Makino (Moshu Makino), an active leader at the so-called Waseda school, who led the Chinese classics promotion movement that was partially responsible for the establishment of Daito Bunka Gakuin; Oriental thought scholar Shigeta Oyanagi; Oriental historian Kyushiro Nakayama; Historian and oriental astronomer Tadao Iijima; Neo-confucianist Shuhei Uchida; Chinese-style poet Takatsugu Kokubu (Seigai Kokubu); Chinese character Scholar Kotaro Kawai; Confucianscripture scholar Shinji Takada (Token Takada); Chinese character scholar Joken Kato (Iken Kato); Wang Yangming School adherent Jun Yamada (Seisai Yamada); and Confucian scripture scholar Chikashi Fujitsuka. Daito Bunka Gakuin boasted a long list of prominent scholars during its early years.

Besides, many Chinese classics scholars were active during and after World War II, who had graduated from Daito Bunka Gakuin Senior High School. People such as Moku Kondo, Akira Shimotomai, Taneshige Harada, Teruo Kasai (Nanson Kasai), and Atsushi Inokuchi became teachers devoted to education at Daito Bunka Gakuin after leaving high school.

The tenth anniversary of the founding

The twentieth anniversary of the founding

The establishment of Tokyo Bunsei University, organized under the new post-war educational system, was approved.

Hisayasu (Chiku-u) Tsuchiya (10 April 1887 - 5 November 1958)

Tsuchiya was the first president of Tokyo Bunsei University, which was organized under the new post-war educational system. (Tokyo Bunsei University changed its name to Daito Bunka University four years later.) He laid a foundation for Daito Bunka’s reconstruction and development during that period.

Tsuchiya came from Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. He was the first son of Shonai domain clansman Hisakuni Tsuchiya and his wife Suma. His real name was Hisayasu, but he used the alias of Shiken and the pen name of Chiku-u. Tsuchiya reportedly assumed the name of Chiku-u (meaning bamboo and rain) after viewing marbled bamboo from a window of his study.

He entered Tokyo Imperial University’s Faculty of Law after graduating from Shonai Junior High School (now Tsuruoka Minami High School) and Dai-ni Senior High School in Sendai. After his graduation from the University in 1914, Tsuchiya studied under Inken Osuga and others and pursued Chinese-style poetry.

Tsuchiya became a manager at the Daito Bunka Association in 1923. He participated in the launch of the Daito Bunka Magazine and served as its editor-in-chief for many years. Tsuchiya became a lecturer at Daito Bunka Gakuin in 1931 and a professor in 1935.

He moved to Tsuruoka, his hometown, and taught Chinese-style poetry there during the war. He returned to Daito Bunka Gakuen after Japan’s defeat. Tsuchiya assumed office as the first president of Tokyo Bunsei University, which was organized under the new post-war educational system, in 1948. At the same time, he became the 14th president of Daito Bunka Gakuin Senmon Gakko. He led the school during its transition from a vocational school into a new-system university. Tsuchiya maintained his position as president until just before his death in 1958.

Chiku-u Tsuchiya is widely known as the leading authority on Chinese-style poetry in the Showa period. Tsuchiya was referred to as the last Chinese-style poet and a prominent figure in that world. Tsuchiya idolized and studied under prominent Chinese-style poet Seigai Kokubu (professor at Daito Bunka Gakuin and lyricist of its school song) as a student at the Imperial University Tokyo. He taught at Daito Bunka Gakuin along with Kokubu and subsequently contributed to Chinese-style poetry education in Japan. Tsuchiya started a magazine called “Toka” at Geibunsha, a defunct publisher, in 1928. He joined the Japan Art Academy in 1949. One year later, he assumed office as advisor to Ibunkai (now Chido Museum) in Tsuruoka.

Tsuchiya was not very keen on writing research papers. He had a pure love for the world of Chinese-style poetry. Tsuchiya actively produced Chinese-style poetry anthologies and engaged in instruction at many poets’ societies, including Yokoginsha. Major works by Tsuchiya include Nihon Hyakunin Isshi (Sunagoya Shobo, 1943) and Kiryoshiko Ken Kon (Geibunsha, 1957). The latter is a self-selected collection of his Chinese-style poems.

Tsuchiya was buried at his family’s gravesite at Tama Cemetery in Tsuruoka. He died at the age of 71.

Application for changing the school name to Daito Bunka University

The thirtieth anniversary of the founding

The fortieth anniversary of the founding

The fiftieth anniversary of the founding

The sixtieth anniversary of the founding

The seventieth anniversary of the founding

The eightieth anniversary of the founding

The ninetieth anniversary of the founding