[Feature: Jiji Shinpo and Japanese Journalism] Masamichi Komuro: Fukuzawa Yukichi and Jiji Shinpo Editorials—Thinking from Editorials Not Included in the Complete Works

2025/04/07

Since the founding of Jiji Shinpo in 1882 (Meiji 15), Fukuzawa Yukichi conducted all his literary and intellectual activities on that stage as the de facto owner and editor-in-chief of the newspaper. All 23 of Fukuzawa's works published after this period were also first serialized as editorials in Jiji Shinpo and subsequently published as independent volumes.

However, there is a major problem regarding how to handle these editorials. While the number of Jiji Shinpo editorials during Fukuzawa's lifetime reached approximately 5,400, the vast majority are unsigned, and there are few that can be confirmed with certainty to have been written by Fukuzawa.

Nevertheless, until at least around 1891 or 1892 (Meiji 24 or 25), editorials were basically written under Fukuzawa's leadership with the cooperation of reporters who were his disciples. This is clear from the editorial policy proclaimed in the inaugural issue, the testimony of reporters who served under Fukuzawa, and Fukuzawa's letters. Considering the surviving manuscripts and letters, some were 100 percent written by Fukuzawa, but others were written by reporters under his guidance, written by reporters and then revised by Fukuzawa, or left entirely to trusted reporters. While there are some editorials in which Fukuzawa is thought to have had no involvement at all, until this period, the majority were works of the "Fukuzawa Editorial Department," even if not written by Fukuzawa himself.

Among such editorials, 1,553 are included in the "Complete Works of Fukuzawa Yukichi" (hereafter abbreviated as "Complete Works"), but in recent research, the prevailing theory is that these should not be considered Fukuzawa's works in the usual sense *1. The majority of these 1,553 pieces were editorials selected by Ishikawa Mikiaki, a reporter under Fukuzawa, in his later years based on his own memory as being Fukuzawa's works *2. However, it must have been extremely difficult, even for Ishikawa who was close to Fukuzawa, to judge which among the vast number of editorials—in which Fukuzawa was involved to varying degrees of depth—should be determined as Fukuzawa's own writing.

Consequently, rather than selecting editorials actually written by Fukuzawa, Ishikawa was forced to select editorials that he believed represented the thought of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department. If that is the case, it is better to think of the editorials included in the "Complete Works" not as a complete collection of editorials written by Fukuzawa, but as a selection (..) of editorials by the Fukuzawa Editorial Department. While the author believes these editorials are well-chosen as a selection, as long as it is a selection, it is inevitably influenced by the editor's discernment. Using it to study not only Fukuzawa's thought but also the thought of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department carries a high risk of leading to incorrect conclusions.

As already mentioned, if Fukuzawa led the editorial department until around 1891 or 1892, then at least until that time, Fukuzawa's thought should be reflected in the Jiji Shinpo editorials when viewed broadly as a whole. However, as has often been pointed out, there are cases where these editorials tactically changed their arguments or points of emphasis from side to side, considering how to lead society within the situational context of that day and time *3. To find Fukuzawa's thought beyond those differences, one must look through as many editorials as possible.

Furthermore, researching only through the editorials included in the "Complete Works," which is nothing more than a single "selection," inevitably creates bias and a high possibility of misjudgment. To avoid this error, there is no choice but to look as broadly as possible at the editorials as a whole, including those not included in the "Complete Works" *4.

Therefore, below I will introduce two examples of what can be learned from editorials not included in the "Complete Works." Where necessary, editorials in the "Complete Works" will be noted as (Complete Works), and those not included will be noted as (Not Included).

As seen in "Transition of People's Way of Thinking" (1879) and the second volume of "Popular Economics" (1880), even before the founding of Jiji Shinpo, Fukuzawa believed that the development of transport and communication, especially the construction of railways, would advance civilization and drive economic growth. For this reason, in Jiji Shinpo as well, the May 1882 article "On Prefectural Bonds" (Not Included), published shortly after the founding, argued that the issuance of prefectural bonds should be permitted for the improvement of regional transport and communication. Furthermore, in the September article of the same year, "On Railways" (Complete Works), he strongly lamented that despite railway construction being the key to the development of human intellect and economic growth, its effects were not recognized in Japan and construction was not progressing at all.

In this way, the Fukuzawa Editorial Department had been appealing for the necessity of railway construction since 1882, but the major question here is to what degree of urgency they considered that construction for the progress of civilization. Specifically, the point is whether they believed railways should be constructed urgently even if it meant using debt, such as internal bonds (government bonds issued domestically) or foreign bonds (government bonds issued by the government in foreign currencies abroad), as a source of funding.

According to the "Complete Works," the argument that railways should be extensively promoted by issuing internal or foreign bonds first appeared in the December 1883 article "A Good Time to Construct Railways on a Large Scale." However, looking at the non-included editorials, the first was "Railway Construction" in November 1882—more than a year earlier—in which the editorial strongly recommended that the government raise 10 million yen in foreign bonds to carry out railway construction. Additionally, in the April 1883 article "It Is Not Difficult to Obtain Funds for Railway Construction" (Not Included), it argued that the government should proceed with railway construction even through the issuance of internal bonds.

In other words, the non-included editorials advocated for railway construction via foreign bonds more than a year earlier than the "Complete Works," and the proposal regarding the use of internal bonds was also more than seven months earlier. This difference in timing is by no means small when considering the thought of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department.

The reason is that the severity of the recession known as the "Matsukata Deflation" was very different between November 1882 and December 1883. The "Matsukata Deflation" was a recession that occurred under the economic policies of Matsukata Masayoshi, who became the Lord of Finance (later Minister of Finance) in October 1881, but at the stage of November 1882, the recession was still only at the level of a sign. However, by December 1883, the situation had become extremely serious, and Fukuzawa repeatedly mentioned "stagnant business conditions" (Letter Nos. 806, 818) in letters to his sons studying in the United States, and described the severity as "extraordinary business conditions" (Letter No. 808). Advocating for railway construction via foreign bonds in such an economic climate must be considered as having an aspect of a stimulus measure through public works *5. In fact, as will be mentioned later, the Fukuzawa Editorial Department repeatedly advocated for railway construction as an economic measure after this.

However, advocating for railway construction via foreign bonds in November 1882, a year earlier, was not an economic measure but was driven by a strong intention to lead civilization and economic growth purely through railway construction. And the Fukuzawa Editorial Department considered that leadership to be so urgent that it had to be executed even by relying on foreign bonds. The thought of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department—using railway construction as a leading sector to guide civilization and the economy—is something that cannot be understood without looking at the non-included editorials.

From April to August 1885, Japan was still suffering from the recession caused by the Matsukata Deflation.

However, looking at the editorials from this period included in the "Complete Works," that situation is not conveyed. Of course, the "Complete Works" does include economic editorials from this period. For example, the April article "Policy for a Wealthy Nation" stated that the goal of a wealthy nation should be pursued through railway construction and trade promotion, and the June article "Trade with China Is Not Without Hope" argued for the future potential and importance of trade with China. Also, from late April to May, a series of three articles—"Western Civilization Lies in Money," "Japan Is Not Yet a Country of Money," and "There Is a Way to Make Japan a Country of Money"—argued that Japanese people must shed their traditional mindset of despising wealth. Or, in April, "Competition Between Two Large Companies" and "What Should Japanese Shipping Be Like?" expressed concern about the mutual ruin of the Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company and the Kyodo Unyu Kaisha due to excessive competition.

However, from these economic editorials included in the "Complete Works," it is impossible to read at all that the time was one of serious recession. Moreover, regarding this period, the "Complete Works" contains few economic editorials to begin with; instead, it devotes many days to editorials about the international situation in East Asia and the serialization of "On Japanese Womanhood" and its sequel.

Particularly regarding the international situation, there had been a conflict between Japan and Qing China in Korea the previous year, the settlement of which was decided by the Treaty of Tianjin in April. Also, wary of Russia's ambition to expand into the Korean Peninsula, Britain occupied Port Hamilton (Geomundo) in Korea in April and made it a naval base. Furthermore, the peace treaty for the Sino-French War, which arose from France's expansion into Vietnam, was concluded with the Treaty of Tianjin in June. Thus, the situation in East Asia was extremely tense, and in the editorials included in the "Complete Works," those concerning these incidents, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, or Japan's coastal defense are particularly noticeable.

However, looking at the non-included editorials, there are as many or even more editorials about the analysis of and measures against the recession as there are about the international situation in East Asia. The first of these was "What Shall We Do About This Recession?" on April 27. This editorial argued that the situation had passed the stage of a mere "recession" and reached the level of "starvation," and should by no means be neglected. Following this, "Causes of the Recession" on May 7 argued that the remote cause of the recession was the economic chaos caused by the over-issuance of inconvertible paper money (banknotes that cannot be exchanged for gold or silver), and the direct cause was the failure to take other measures while reducing the money supply to settle that chaos, asserting that measures to recover the economy weakened by the recession were necessary.

Written as a continuation of this argument, "Remedies for the Recession" on May 25 and "The Natural Course of the Economy Is Insufficient to Save the Recession" on the 27th and 28th are also noteworthy as assertions of economic theory. These editorials stated that escaping from this recession was impossible if left to natural recovery through market principles. The prevailing classical economics of the time believed that if prices fell due to a recession, demand from overseas would be born and the economy would recover naturally. In contrast, these editorials pointed out that Japan's domestic land transport was underdeveloped with poor access to export ports, and there were many products nurtured under customs and habits different from the rest of the world, so an increase in overseas demand could not be expected much, analyzing that one should not expect recovery through market principles.

So, what should be done? "Recession Relief Measures" on June 17 and 18 argued that active fiscal investment was necessary to overcome the recession, and for that, raising tens of millions of yen in foreign bonds to increase the circulating currency would be effective, and the healthiest method that would yield later benefits was railway construction. Furthermore, "Interest-Bearing Money Should Not Be Left Idle" on August 7 and 8 criticized the fact that 20 million yen collected by the government through internal bonds for the construction of the Nakasendo Railway remained in the national treasury unused, which was exacerbating the recession, and argued that if the Nakasendo Railway was difficult due to challenging construction, the funds should be spent even if diverted to other railway construction. Also, on the 14th and 24th of the same month, "Financial Stringency" reiterated that the government's single-minded accumulation of currency in the national treasury was exacerbating the recession, and suggested that if railway work was difficult, the government should buy back internal bonds in circulation with treasury funds. All of these were arguments that active fiscal stimulus was necessary.

The editorials introduced above were argued in a series of flows—recognition of the recession, analysis, theorization of measures, and specific measures—and it can be said that they constituted a single campaign by Jiji Shinpo. Moreover, seven editorials covering 11 days on a single theme is by no means a negligible volume. However, not a single one of these editorials is included in the "Complete Works," and this entire campaign is missing.

Due to space limitations, I can only introduce two examples, but from these two alone, one can see that if one considers the thought of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department using only the editorials included in the "Complete Works," there is a possibility of falling into incorrect conclusions. The editorials in the "Complete Works" are, for better or worse, a selection. While a selection is convenient, at the very least, professional researchers should not obtain conclusions based on it alone.

So, what should be done? At least until around 1891 or 1892, one should look as broadly as possible, including non-included editorials. That said, even up to that period, it is a vast amount of editorials exceeding 3,000 days' worth, and it is not an amount of material that an individual researcher can easily handle.

One coping method would be to look exhaustively at themes or periods of interest. It could be agricultural issues, educational theory, diplomatic issues, or anything else. It means looking at all editorials, including non-included ones, regarding that issue. Or, for example, if one is interested in the year 1890 (Meiji 23), when the National Diet was established and Japan's first panic occurred, reading all the editorials for about a year surrounding it would reveal how the diverse interests of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department were structured at that point in time.

Another coping method is to conduct research by forming a project team. It goes without saying that researching thousands of editorials spanning diverse themes is a task that well requires such an organization.

In any case, the era of researching using only the editorials included in the "Complete Works" has ended. However, there is still almost no research that pays attention to non-included editorials *6. In that respect, it can be said that a huge task lies before future researchers. At the same time, that huge task is also a great possibility for new research. Moreover, what that possibility opens up is not merely the thought of the Fukuzawa Editorial Department or the thought of Fukuzawa Yukichi, but an important part of modern Japan. The study of Jiji Shinpo editorials not included in the "Complete Works" can be said to be a task worth challenging.