Koji Sugi

A pioneer of statistics and statistical work in Japan. Born in Nagasaki. He studied Dutch and French at the private schools of Ogata Koan, Tsuboi Nobuyoshi (1823-1904), and Sugita Seikei, and became acquainted with many Western scholars. He served the shogunate on the recommendation of Katsu Kaishu, and eventually became a professor at the Kaiseisho, where he learned about statistics in the West and studied it on his own. After the Meiji Restoration, he moved to Shizuoka, and in 1869 (Meiji 2) he began a population census for the domain, and also became an instructor at the Numazu Naval Academy. The following year, in 1870, he began serving the government and working on statistics, editing Japan's first official statistical book, the Shinmi Seihyo (1872), and the Kai no Kuni Genzaininbetsu Shirabe (1882), among others. In 1881 (Meiji 14), he became Chief Secretary of the Statistics Authority, and published the First Statistical Yearbook in 1882. He also founded the Statistical Company (later renamed the Tokeigaku Company) and published the Statistical Magazine, working to promote the study and dissemination of statistics. He also founded the Kyoritsu Statistical School in Kudan, Tokyo, where he taught and educated the next generation of statistics students. Although he lost his sight in both eyes in later years, he played an active role as a member of the census preparation committee, laying the foundations for statistics in Japan.

[Toshihiko Kikuchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本の統計学・統計業務の先駆。長崎の生まれ。緒方洪庵(おがたこうあん)、坪井信良（1823―1904）、杉田成卿(せいけい)らの塾でオランダ語・フランス語を学び、多くの洋学者と知り合った。勝海舟(かつかいしゅう)の勧めで幕府に出仕し、やがて開成所教授職となり、ここで西洋に統計学のあることを知り独習。明治維新後は静岡に移住、1869年（明治2）同藩の人口調査に着手、また沼津兵学校教官となる。翌1870年から政府に出仕して統計業務に従事、日本最初の官製統計書『辛未政表』（1872）や『甲斐国現在人別調(かいのくにげんざいにんべつしらべ)』（1882）などを編集。1881年（明治14）統計院大書記官となり、『第一統計年鑑』も1882年に刊行した。一方、スタチスチック社（のち統計学社と改称）を創設して『スタチスチック雑誌』を発行し、統計学の研究普及に努めた。また東京の九段に共立統計学校を創立し、後進の指導育成にあたるなどした。後年、両眼とも失明したが、国勢調査準備委員などとして活躍、日本の統計学の基礎を築いた。

［菊池俊彦］

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