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Masahiro Yasuoka | |
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| Born | (1898-02-13)February 13, 1898 |
| Died | (1983-12-13)December 13, 1983 |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Known for | Scholar ofyangmingism, teacher of some Japanese prime ministers, audit of the Imperial Surrender Rescript, naming ofHeisei era |
Masahiro Yasuoka (安岡正篤,Yasuoka Masahiro; February 13, 1898 – December 13, 1983) was a Japanese scholar ofyangmingism who, through his philosophy, reportedly exerted considerable influence on many Japanese politicians, including postwar prime ministers of Japan. He has been considered a backroompower broker oreminence grise.
He was born inOsaka city on February 13, 1898. When he was a child his parents taught him to read the Chinese classics, theFour Books (The Great Learning,Doctrine of the Mean,The Analects of Confucius, andMencius).
He studied atTokyo Imperial University and his graduation paperA study ofWang Yangming caught the attention of many intellectuals and politicians of the era. After graduating in 1922, he worked for six months at the Ministry of Education.
He established an institute of Asian studies and insisted on the traditional nationalism of Japan whenTaishō democracy was in vogue (1912–1926). While working as an instructor at the Department of Asian Thought,Takushoku University, he wrote books such asStudies on the Japanese Spirit andStudies on Emperors and Government Officials, attracting the attention of some noblemen and military officers. In 1927, he established a private school,Kinkei Gakuen, in the house of Sakai Tadamasa who was a member of theHouse of Peers (Japan). In 1931, with the help ofzaibatsu, Japanese conglomerates, he established a private school inSaitama Prefecture,Nihon Nōshi Gakkō, (or, Japan Farmers' School) to teach Asian thought and his philosophy. In 1932, he founded a right-wing group calledKokuikai.Fumimaro Konoe,Kōki Hirota and other influential figures joined, but the group came to be perceived as aneminence grise, leading to its end after two years.
He was a brilliant student; however, he skipped classes when he was at Tokyo Imperial University in favor of reading books at the library. In the second edition of his study onWang Yangming in 1960, he wrote of reading many important Western works, but also of returning to Chinese and Japanese works. He said, "I felt that my backbone was strengthened when I read throughRecords of the Grand Historian andZizhi Tongjian."[1]
Yasuoka's philosophy influenced many people.Mitsugi Nishida andIkki Kita who were associated with theFebruary 26 Incident were reputedly influenced by him, although exactly how is not known. Among others influenced by him, some through his books and others personally, wereIsoroku Yamamoto,Masaharu Homma,Yukio Mishima,Yashiro Rokuro,Chiang Kai-shek, sumo grand championFutabayama, andEiji Yoshikawa. In 1944, he became an adviser to theMinistry of Greater East Asia.
TheGHQ ordered the dissolution of his previous groups and schools, and Yasuoka himself waspurged on the ground of his involvement in the Ministry of Greater East Asia. In 1949 he organized theShiyukai (Friends of Teacher); this group has continued to this day (2012) and includes a Hokkaido Shiyukai, Kansai Shiyukyokai and Himeji Shiyukai. After the war, he was asked to write the policy speeches of many prime ministers. He also became a spiritual guide and teacher to many prime ministers, includingShigeru Yoshida (who called Yasuokaold teacher in spite of Yoshida's being 20 years senior),Hayato Ikeda,Eisaku Satō,Takeo Fukuda andMasayoshi Ohira. He was reluctant, however, to speak of this.
Yasuoka is known to have edited theImperial Surrender Rescript in some points. On August 12, 1945,Hisatsune Sakomizu, the chief Secretary of the Cabinet, visited Yasuoka at his house and asked him toaudit the Surrender Rescript. Yasuoka made many changes, but on the next day found one of the three points he insisted on remained unchanged.[2] Yasuoka metHirohito three times after the war, at garden parties. Hirohito thanked Yasuoka for the trouble at the end of the war, and asked Yasuoka if he was studying as before, to which Yasuoka replied "Yes" with delight.[3] After Yasuoka's death Hirohito once attended a round-table discussion at which one of the attendants noted, "Yasuoka had once said that once the emperor said something, nothing could be told in addition." To this, Hirohito nodded.[4]
Due to his knowledge of the history of China, Yasuoka was asked to name various societies:Kōchikai ("Broad Pond Society") is one of them.[5] Also thanks to his Chinese scholarship, he gave the new era its name,Heisei, although he did not outlive theShōwa era. Heisei was conceived by Yasuoka in 1979, which was communicated to the government. Tatsuro Yamamoto, professor emeritus of Tokyo University, again told the government, as reported in 1995.[6]
