Taizo Abe

2023/06/08

Image: Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies collection

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 recklessly or impulsively (omitted). 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 your parents' occupations, or to the work of 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 former School of Commerce and Industry at Keio University. Throughout his life, Abe was a man who 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 being a doctor" because "doctors at that time were looked upon similarly to monks and had very poor social standing." Therefore, he thought of "becoming a Confucian scholar" and studied under the Confucian scholar Setsudo Saito in Ise in 1863. However, he gradually became attracted to Rangaku (Dutch Studies) and went to Edo in 1864 at the age of 16 to study Rangaku under Genrui Sugita, Saburosuke Nakajima, and others. He further attended Seiki Aochi's school to study English studies with Aritoki Hayashi and Heigoro Shoda, before entering 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 involving the Shogitai broke out. The scene of Fukuzawa continuing his lecture on Wayland's Elements of Political Economy even as the sound of cannons roared is one of the origins of Keio University. It is a scene 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 of enrollment, he also served as the Jukuto (President), though the role 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 had a reputation for being "the most flourishing among private schools" but also "unruly and violent." However, at Shinsenza, "it had become the exact opposite of its public reputation." Abe and others during the Aochi school era were full of youthful vigor and "played around quite a bit, drinking sake with women," but at Shinsenza, "those who went to teahouses or restaurants had a bad reputation even within Keio." Shoda was surprised to see them unarmed without swords and "completely indifferent to their clothing and 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 Alberto Millán Martín, Abe's translation was a "good translation" that skillfully paraphrased the original meanings—such as translating Christ as "Saint" and God as "Heaven"—to "fulfill the ultimate goal of disseminating the ideas of a civilized society without causing much resistance among the Japanese people of the time." (Alberto Millán Martín, "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; the essential thing is to make it understandable to the reader, as a translation is not shown to people who can read the original."

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 America as an attendant to Vice Minister of Education Fujimaro Tanaka, broadening his horizons. After returning to Japan, he married his second wife, Yuko, the daughter of Kageaki Matano (a samurai of the Shonai Tsuruoka Domain who taught Chinese classics at the Juku), through an introduction by Fukuzawa.

Furthermore, Fukuzawa himself asked Abe, who was from the same region, to act as a mediator when his eldest daughter married Sadakichi Nakamura. Fukuzawa relied on Abe, frequently calling 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 took 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 at the end of 1879 among Tokujirō Obata, Nobukichi Koizumi, Heigoro Shoda, and others who gathered under Fukuzawa. In 1881, the plan to create 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 lost their breadwinners after 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 "scarcity of research materials," borrowing books from the Mitsubishi Commercial School and Kaoru Inoue. They fought through these challenges until they were finally able to "attain a general understanding of what insurance is."

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 strive for publicity and increased enrollment. 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 enrolled in insurance himself and discussed insurance in public speaking and writings. He reportedly urged graduates who received monthly salaries to "first join life insurance," going so far as to say that "those who do not enter insurance at all are 'human beings' 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 the insured, and the insurance payouts skyrocketed. Combined with the effects of Matsukata's fiscal policy, it became a "disaster since the founding," but after overcoming 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 "Taizo Abe Commemoration Ceremony" was planned by 80 promoters from various fields to honor Abe's achievements. It received a tremendous response from people who admired Abe's character; about 400 prominent figures from the public and private sectors and insurance professionals attended, and the donations reached a large sum. In his congratulatory speech, Eiichi Shibusawa said, "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 funds were entrusted to Abe. Abe established the "Abe Library" and donated it to the Juku, stating, "I wish to donate this to Keio University, the birthplace of life insurance, so that the interest can be used by its library 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. 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 or abolish the Juku was discussed after Fukuzawa's death, Abe, as a financial committee member, 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 that time, "able to speak on the management of the Gijuku with actual power." Above all, Abe supported his alma mater by repeatedly bringing enormous donations to the Juku to cover deficits in operating expenses.

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

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). However, while at a hot spring during a trip, a glass pane fell and injured his thigh. 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 "person who could not engage in idle talk," and was "of a nature that could not boast." Partly because the Juku at that time had a culture of disliking ceremonies, he never attended official events or festivals during his time as a government official. His public speaking was said to be "constructed with well-selected words without a single wasted word or phrase." Furthermore, it is said that "my father took a profession 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 on this path" (Takitaro Minakami, "Kaikara Tsuiho 2"). Knowing these thoughts and re-reading the opening instructions to the School of Commerce and Industry, one can glimpse the anguish and pride of the taciturn Abe, as well as his love and sincerity in conveying his own life lessons to the students.