Chokyuro Kadono

2021/11/29

Image: From "Heiheibonbon Kyujunen" (Ninety Ordinary Years)

Chokyuro Kadono was the younger brother of Ikunoshin Kadono (who served as the Vice President of Keio University and founded Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Company). He is generally regarded as a businessman who served as the Vice President of Okura-gumi and the Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Because Chokyuro lived for over 90 years and possessed a sharp memory that did not fade even in old age, he left behind many memoirs. His autobiography, "Heiheibonbon Kyujunen," can be seen as a compilation of these. This article focuses on the events leading up to his recruitment by Okura-gumi, which had a major influence on the formation of Chokyuro's character. These can be summarized into three points: the teachings at Keio University, his career as a professional starting in the railway industry with a specialization in railway engineering, and the English language skills he honed through both study and work.

Chokyuro was born in September 1867 in Toba, Shima Province (now Toba City, Mie Prefecture), as the second son of Toyoemon Kadono, a samurai of the Toba Clan. In his early childhood, he was raised particularly strictly by his parents and siblings, who feared he was a good-for-nothing with a dark future. Chokyuro considered himself a good child, and because he was treated so harshly despite this, he was inwardly filled with resentment.

According to Renpachiro Kadono (a Keio University alumni who held key positions in the Mitsui Zaibatsu), a relative who grew up with him, Chokyuro was the ringleader of all the mischief. Furthermore, when the family of Makoto Kondo (founder of Kogyokusha), an old friend of his father, lived with them, Kondo's adopted son Motoki was contrasted as the "Good Boy," while Chokyuro was labeled the "Bad Boy."

Even after the Education System Order was promulgated in 1872, his father did not send Chokyuro to school properly, but instead invited young men from the Toba Clan to teach him the Four Books and Five Classics and brush calligraphy. However, Chokyuro was forced to cram these subjects and found them completely incomprehensible; he took pride in lying around his room and being extremely lazy. According to Chokyuro, as a result, he could never fully shake off his habit of laziness and never did any more studying than was absolutely necessary.

In 1877, Chokyuro left his hometown accompanied by his mother. They traveled by sea from Yokkaichi via Yokohama and entered Tokyo by train for the first time. In later years, he reflected, "The railway that I gazed at then with only eyes of wonder became my major ten years later and the object of my profession in America and Japan fifteen years later." The purpose of coming to Tokyo was for Ikunoshin, who was 11 years older, to take in the rowdy Chokyuro and try to do something with him. At that time, Ikunoshin had become the youngest teacher at Keio University and was also dispatched to teach at schools such as the Mitsubishi Commercial School.

The following year, 1878, Chokyuro enrolled in Wada Juku (later the Yochisha Elementary School) at Mita Hilltop Square. Wada Juku was a private school for primary education started by Mr. and Mrs. Yoshiro Wada under the orders of Yukichi Fukuzawa. There were about 25 to 26 students in a co-educational setting (co-ed only for a short period in the early 1880s). Among them, seven were boarders, all of whom were children of samurai families including local lords. The day students consisted of children of high-ranking Meiji officials, wealthy families near Mita, and children of Keio University faculty and staff (including Fukuzawa's children). The day students all wore silk and were accompanied by attendants on their way to and from school. Therefore, the atmosphere of Wada Juku was aristocratic, and everyone's behavior was said to be generous and composed.

While many Keio students recorded their memories of the Wadas as being "like a benevolent father and mother" and "homelike," Chokyuro himself had a different impression. He felt as though he alone was regarded as a very troublesome fellow, and he was frequently scolded by Yoshiro's wife, Kisa, who told him, "You really have a bad nature." On the other hand, he also shared the following memory:

"Every morning when I woke up, I would shake my blanket over the goldfish in the pond, but there were so many fleas that even the goldfish were startled and wouldn't eat them. I was often scolded by Mr. Wada, who told me I had to be cleaner or that I had to clean up. I also feel that Mr. Wada's younger sister, Miss O-hide Yamaguchi, protected me very much in place of my mother."

On the other hand, he described Fukuzawa as "feeling like a benevolent father." Chokyuro spent time with Fukuzawa's children, and perhaps because his lodging was adjacent to Fukuzawa's row house, he went to the Fukuzawa home to eat meals together, was treated to rice cakes at New Year's, and sometimes played in a circle with Fukuzawa holding his hand. Fukuzawa was kind to children, and even if they were scolded with a "Hey!" for playing too much, they would sometimes approach him timidly to talk.

Classes at Wada Juku consisted of English plus Chinese classics, which was advanced for a primary school curriculum. Study was entirely self-directed; lower-level students were taught by upper-level students, and upper-level students researched what they did not understand together. Anything they still couldn't resolve was brought to the student assistants (senior students). Chokyuro honed his English during his time as a student, and there are no records of him struggling with English during his stay of over ten years in the UK and US.

After moving to the main course at age 15, he actually had fewer opportunities to interact with Fukuzawa. His classmates included Sanji Muto (President of Kanegafuchi Spinning Co., Ltd.), Jiro Yamana (Appraiser at the Nippon Kangyo Bank), and Toyoji Wada (President of Fuji Spinning Co., Ltd.). Among the boarders were Yukio Ozaki and Tsuyoshi Inukai, and Chokyuro could no longer behave as rowdily as before. Around the same time, Ikunoshin returned to Mita from the Risshisha in Tosa, which made Chokyuro feel somewhat constrained. However, during this period, it seems his consciousness began to change, and he wasn't just annoyed by his brother.

Education at Keio University encouraged writing well and reading English books thoroughly, and students were taught to study so that these skills would be practically useful in society. Chokyuro understood this as "the so-called jitsugaku (science), which was the educational policy most emphasized by Yukichi Fukuzawa."

At age 18, nearing graduation, Chokyuro was vaguely thinking about pursuing further education in politics and economics. However, Ikunoshin, who held the position of Dean at Keio University, was the first to oppose this, saying, "Even if you call it 'study,' you should avoid subjects like politics and economics where the true nature is hard to grasp. These are things you acquire through common sense rather than academic study. If anything, Yukichi Fukuzawa is recommending chemistry to young people from now on. You must go into the sciences; master engineering. That way, you will definitely be able to earn a living. It might be strange for me to say this while being a teacher at Keio, but it's the truth, so it can't be helped."

In the summer of 1884, Chokyuro graduated from the Keio University main course and passed the entrance exam for the Imperial College of Engineering (now the University of Tokyo) with a competition rate of about ten to one, being selected as a government-sponsored student. In 1891, he graduated from the Civil Engineering Department of the Imperial University (which merged with the former University of Tokyo during his enrollment), specializing in railway engineering.

After graduation, government-sponsored students were obligated to work at government-designated workplaces for a period equivalent to their study period. However, before the nationalization of railways, there were no places to utilize railway engineering, and he became effectively unemployed. When he consulted Ikunoshin, he received the advice, "Why don't you try going to America?" Through an introduction from Soichiro Matsumoto, Director of the Railway Bureau (who later served as Director-General), he relied on Joseph U. Crawford, an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad (who had come to Japan at the invitation of the government to build the Horonai Railway and had appointed Matsumoto for its construction), and began working for that railroad. Upon his departure for the US, he received support from Nobukichi Koizumi.

Chokyuro recalled, "The Keio University alumni who helped me the most was Nobukichi Koizumi, and I am deeply grateful for the assistance I received from the Yokohama Specie Bank when I traveled abroad." Locally, he was hired at a salary comparable to that of an American, and because there was no one around who could draw satisfactory blueprints, his own were adopted. Furthermore, he suffered little from racial prejudice; rather, people were surprised that he was from Japan, and he was warmly welcomed by his colleagues. After finishing four years of life in the US, he returned to Japan via the UK.

Returning to Japan in 1896, Chokyuro was 30 years old. Despite being a returnee from abroad, he felt pessimistic compared to his successful old friends and regretted that he might have been better off studying politics and economics instead of engineering. However, Heigoro Shoda (a Keio University alumni who held key positions in the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu), who was an acquaintance, kindly advised him, "That is a terrible misunderstanding. It was better to have mastered engineering than politics and economics. Even for the same four or five years, it was better to have gone abroad and struggled than to have struggled at home."

Shortly thereafter, he began receiving offers from the Imperial University for an assistant professorship and from the Railway Bureau of the Ministry of Communications. While he was turning these down, a deal was finalized for him to join Sanyo Railway Co., Ltd. (which laid and opened the current JR Sanyo Main Line). This was due to a double connection: Director Hikojiro Nakamigawa (a Keio University alumni) and Chief Engineer Junnosuke Yamaguchi were both old acquaintances of Chokyuro. Thus, Chokyuro, as an engineer under Manager Takuzo Ushiba (a Keio University alumni), who was the de facto leader on the front lines, was involved in the construction of extended sections toward the opening of the entire line.

At that time, Kihachiro Okura (founder of Okura-gumi) was looking for talent to send to the London branch. It was Kumema Okura (Kihachiro Okura's son-in-law) and Koganji Takashima (a Keio University alumni) who invited Chokyuro to Okura-gumi. Kumema Okura was a senior of Chokyuro by several years at the Imperial University, and Takashima was a close friend of Ikunoshin; both had connections to Nakamigawa. These two recommended him, saying, "Kadono is a Keio graduate who has been to America and England. He is honest, and has no other particular merit besides honesty. Because he is a bit slow but honest, he can't do clever business, but he will certainly never do anything bad." There was no opposition to this career change from Ikunoshin or Nakamigawa.

In 1898, Kihachiro Okura welcomed Chokyuro with the simple words, "I'm counting on you." For Chokyuro, there was a latent, vague desire to transition from an engineer to a businessman, and his hopes from his student days were set to be realized. After serving as the London branch manager for ten years and returning to Japan in 1907, he was appointed Vice President. Later, Chokyuro reflected, "He promoted me, who was nothing more than a single railway engineer, to an important post in Okura-gumi, entrusted everything to me when I was young and a complete amateur in trade relations, and thereafter made sure to support me in every single thing."

After retiring from his key positions at Okura-gumi in 1937 and moving to Odawara for retirement, he stubbornly refused to go to Tokyo. Chokyuro remained modest throughout his life, saying, "The public mistakenly recognized me as a significant figure in the financial world, but it was all because I had the backing of 'Mr. Okura'; in reality, I was just a manager for Okura-gumi—a mere salaryman, so to speak." After retiring from the front lines, the only titled position he held was Chairman of the Standard Romaji Society, which values the Hepburn system. In April 1958, he brought the curtain down on a long and full life, having remained faithful to the teachings he gained during his days as one of the Keio students until the very end.