[Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) and Showa 100] On the Occasion of the Reprinting and Republication of Past Articles from "Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) and Showa 100"
2025/06/05
This year, 2025, marks the milestone of Showa 100 and the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. While various magazines and other media are running special features celebrating "Showa 100," Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) has reached its 1,300th issue with this edition. Therefore, for the June issue, we have changed the usual feature format to select, reprint, and republish several articles that graced this journal during the Showa era. Additionally, we have included representative covers from the Showa era in the frontispiece, so we would be pleased if you could refer to those as well.
First, I would like to briefly look back at the history of Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press). Many of you may be aware that its predecessor was the "Keio Gijuku Gakuho." First published in March 1898 (Meiji 31), the purpose of its publication was stated as "to promote the spirit and aspirations of the Juku to the public, to feature editorials and talks by Yukichi Fukuzawa and other seniors of the company, as well as new theories on academic and educational matters, and to include news of academic affairs and Keio University alumni." The fact that it listed donors and donation amounts to the Keio University endowment at the end of the volume remains unchanged today.
Subsequently, there was a movement to aim for commercial sales as an academic review magazine, and in January 1915 (Taisho 4), starting from issue 210, the title was changed to the current Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press). Note that the name "Mita-hyoron" had already been used for a student organ at the end of the Meiji era (discontinued in 1908). This organ was reborn in 1909 as the "Mita Gakkai Zasshi" (which continues to be published today as the journal of the Keio Economic Society).
Regarding the articles republished in this issue, we have limited them to the Showa era since it is the milestone of Showa 100.
As you know, Emperor Taisho passed away on December 25, 1926 (Taisho 15), so the first year of Showa lasted only seven days, and the first Showa issue of this journal was the January 1927 (Showa 2) issue (Issue 353). This issue is printed with the publication date of January 1, 1927, and includes a formal announcement from President Kiroku Hayashi regarding the passing of the Emperor. However, considering the time constraints of printing and binding, it makes one wonder when the surviving edition was actually published.
On the other hand, the final issue of the Showa era was the January 1989 (Showa 64) issue (Issue 899), as this journal sets the first of every month as its publication date (Showa 64 also lasted only seven days). This calculates to 547 issues published during the Showa era. However, during the war, between issues 542 and 543 in 1943 (Showa 18), only one issue was actually published despite being numbered as two, so this is not an accurate count of issues.
"War" cast a long shadow over the Showa era and truly marked a turning point. Even for Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press), there was a suspension of publication for nearly eight years, from December 1943 (Showa 18) until its revival with issue 550 in October 1951 (Showa 26). By comparison, during the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923 (Taisho 12), only the following October issue was suspended. It is beyond imagination how much of an impact the war had on Keio University and this journal.
Tracing the back numbers of the pre-war Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) in chronological order, one can physically feel the circumstances as the war intensified: the number of pages steadily decreased, the paper quality worsened, and the suspension of publication became inevitable. The final pre-war issue, the combined October/November 1943 issue (Issue 549), had only 20 pages of main text. The paper quality was extremely poor, incomparable to the splendor of just a few years prior.
Even after the revival, as President Kōji Ushioda stated in the "Words on Revival" in issue 550, "At present, due to expenses and other factors, we must remain a quarterly publication, and the scope of distribution is naturally limited." Thus, it remained an irregular publication until the end of 1960 (Showa 35), and it was not until the following year, 1961, that it became a monthly periodical.
The 547 issues (actually 546) of the Showa era are vast. It is nearly impossible to compile a selection that perfectly represents them. Consequently, the selection was made according to the interests of the editorial department, which resulted in a larger volume of "pre-war" essays and articles that are not often seen. We would like to state at the outset that the selection lacks balance not only in content but also in terms of time periods.
In selecting the articles, we received appropriate advice from Professor Takeyuki Tokura of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies. We would like to express our deep gratitude. (Editorial Department)
The editorial policy for the reprinting and republication of the articles is as follows.
(Explanatory Notes)
1. Articles originally written in "old characters and old kana" have been converted to "new characters and new kana." However, "Keio University" (慶應義塾), "Fukuzawa" (福澤), and other personal names that customarily use old characters in this journal have been left as they are. Titles are those held at the time of writing.
2. Obvious typographical errors and omissions have been corrected. Additionally, for ease of reading, line breaks and furigana have been added in some places.
3. In light of today's human rights awareness, some expressions may be considered inappropriate, but they have been left as is in consideration of the historical value of the articles.
4. Brief notes have been added to the end of the text where appropriate.
Please read the reprinted and republished articles here.
Ideological Independence (Kiroku Hayashi).pdf
In Praise of Ordinary-ism (Ichizo Kobayashi).pdf
On the National Mita-kai (Gitaro Sakamura).pdf
To Those Aspiring to Enter the Juku (Kōji Ushioda).pdf
Student Sports and the Athletic Association (Tadao Ishikawa).pdf
A New Perspective on Tuition: A Proposal for a Tuition Coupon System (Yoshihito Chigusa).pdf