Fukuchi Gen'ichirō

Gen'ichirō Fukuchi

Fukuchi Gen'ichirō ( Japanese 福地 源 一郎 , pseudonym: Fukuchi Ōchi ( Kyūjitai : 福地 櫻 癡 , Shinjitai : 福地 桜 痴 ); born May 13, 1841 in Nagasaki ; † January 4, 1906 ) was a Japanese author, journalist and statesman .

Life

Fukuchi was born the son of a doctor in Nagasaki. He studied Dutch studies ( Rangaku ) and English and entered the service of the Tokugawa Shogunate as an interpreter in 1858 . On his behalf, Fukuchi traveled twice with an embassy to Europe. In 1868 he published the newspaper Kōko Shimbun ( 江湖 新聞 ), in which he published an article that was critical of the government and friendly to the shogunate, whereupon the Meiji government arrested him. However, through the use of Kido Takayoshi , he was found innocent and released. In 1870 he started working for the Ministry of Finance . He subsequently took part in Itō Hirobumi's mission to America as well as in the Iwakura mission .

From 1874 to 1888 he worked first as editor-in-chief, then as chairman of the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun ( 東京 日 日 新聞 ). As a reporter he wrote a. a. about the Satsuma rebellion . In addition, he criticized the government's plans for the official development, reclamation and settlement of Hokkaidōs, decided in 1870 ( 開拓 使 官 有 物 払 下 (げ) 事件 , kaitaku shikan yūbutsu haraisa (ge) jiken ). As a journalist with ties to political circles, he was influential. In 1882 he founded a. a. with Maruyama Sakura the party Rikken Teiseitō ( 立憲 帝 政党 , "Party of Imperial Rule").

During this time he also wrote political novels and Kabuki plays . He also participated in the movement for the reform of the art of acting ( 演劇 改良 運動 , engki kairyō undō ) and opened the famous Kabukiza theater ( 歌舞 伎 座 ) on the Ginza in Tokyo. In 1904 he was elected to the Japanese House of Representatives ( Shūgiin ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} 福地 源 一郎 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved May 18, 2013 (Japanese). 
2. ↑ 福地 源 一郎 , Kobayashi Kiyochika, The journalist Fukuchi Gen'ichirō, a color woodblock print. (No longer available online.) The British Museum, archived from the original on March 21, 2013 ; accessed on May 18, 2013 (English, illustration). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

literature

• M. William Steele: Alternative Narratives in Modern Japanese History . Routledge Curzon, London, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-415-56060-3 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed May 18, 2013]).

Web links

Commons : Fukuchi Genichiro  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Fukuchi Gen'ichiro. In: Portraits of modern japanese historical figures. National Diet Library, 2013, accessed May 18, 2013 . 

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Fukuchi is the family name, Gen'ichirō the first name.