Abe Isoo

Abe Isoo (安部 磯雄, 4 February 1865 – 10 February 1949)^[1][2][3] was a Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist. He largely contributed to development of baseball in Japan, and was called "Father of Japanese baseball." He created a baseball club of Waseda University.^[4]

Abe Isoo
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 1928–1930
Constituency	Tokyo 2nd district
In office 1932–1940
Constituency	Tokyo 2nd district
Personal details
Born	(1865-02-04)4 February 1865^[1]^[2]^[3] Fukuoka, Japan
Died	10 February 1949(1949-02-10) (aged 84)^[1] Tokyo, Japan
Political party	Shakai Minshutō→ Shakai Minshūtō→ Shakai Taishūtō→ Kinrō Kokumintō (banned)→ Independent→ Japanese Socialist Party
Residence	Tokyo
Alma mater	Doshisha University University of Berlin Hartford Theological Seminary
Occupation	preacher

In this Japanese name, the surname is Abe.

Early life and education

Abe was born in Fukuoka on 4 February 1865.^[2][5] He entered at Doshisha University in 1879, and got baptized by Joseph Hardy Neesima at February 2, 1882.^[4] In 1898, he created the first Consumers' co-operative of university in Japan at Doshisha. After he graduated from Doshissha, he studied abroad, including at the University of Berlin, before attending Hartford Theological Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.^[6] It was while he was studying in Hartford that he became interested in socialism.^[1]

Career

After returning to Japan, in 1899,^[1] Abe became a Unitarian preacher. He taught at the Waseda University starting in 1901, called Tokyo Semmon Gakko, at the time.^[1] He later became a faculty of political science and economics and taught there for 25 years.^[1][7] He occupied some important positions in the university like a dean of first School of Political Science and Economics and University Vice President. In 1901 he helped to found the short-lived Japanese Social-Democratic party, which the government swiftly prohibited.^[4]

During the Russo-Japanese War, he advocated non-cooperation and participated in various early feminist movements. When the anti-war newspaper Heimin Shimbun (People's Weekly News) was banned, he started his own magazine, Shinkigen (A New Era).^[8] He used this as a soapbox to promote parliamentary socialism.^[1] In 1906, he played an instrumental role in founding the first Japanese Socialist Party, from which he advocated a Christian Socialist viewpoint. However, the government outlawed this party too in 1907. He dropped out of public life until after World War I, when he became active again.^[1] He founded the Japanese Fabian Society, in 1921,^[1] and in 1924, he became their first President. He resigned his teaching post to become the secretary-general of the Social Democratic Party.^[1][4] In 1928, he was elected to the Japanese Diet, where he held a seat for five consecutive elections.^[1] In 1932, he became a chairman of Shakai Taishuto (Social Mass Party).^[1][5] He withdrew from politics in 1940 due to the increasingly militaristic nature of the government of the time.^[1]

Father of Baseball in Japan

He contributed to development and spread of baseball in japan, because he believed that personality was built with sports, like knowledge built with learning.^[1][2] Becoming the first manager of Waseda Baseball Club in 1901, he started Waseda–Keio rivalry.^[7] In 1905, during Russo-Japanese War, he took the team to the United States, and brought many techniques to Japan. He didn't keep the techniques secret, but spread them all over Japan with his books. He also established the Japan Amateur Sports Association(later Japan Sport Association) together with Jigoro Kano.^[4] Besides, he helped organizing of the first Olympic team of Japan competing at the Stockholm Olympic games in 1912.^[9] In 1930, he became the first chairman of Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. After WWII he also became the first chairman of Japan Student Baseball Association [jp].

He is called 'Father of Baseball in Japan' or 'Father of Student Baseball' in Japan because of such contribution. Totsuka Ground, the main stadium of Waseda's baseball team, was changed its name to Abe Ground when he died in 1949.^[10] When Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame was opened in 1959, he was inducted into the hall.

See also

• Shinkigen

References

1. Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abe Isoo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 23. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
2. Castronova, Frank V., ed. (1998). Almanac of Famous People. Vol. I Biographies. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. p. 4.
3. There is uncertainty surrounding his birth date as some sources state that his day of birth is 1 March 1865.
4. "Abe, Isoo". Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures. National Diet Library. from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
5. Louis Frédéric; Käthe Roth (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 902. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
6. "Abe Isoo | Japanese socialist leader".
7. Takahashi, Akira (4 December 2015). "Abe Isoo and the Waseda Baseball Club". Waseda University. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
8. "Abe Isoo". Britannica. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
9. Gavin, Masako (2012). "Abe Isoo and Baseball—New Social Relations beyond the Family-State Institution". Rethinking Japanese Modernism. pp. 452–470. doi:10.1163/9789004211308_024. ISBN 9789004211308. Retrieved 4 October 2020. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
10. "安部球場 日本野球史のホームグラウンド". Waseda University (in Japanese). from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2020.