Chuokoron - Chuo Koron

A general-purpose magazine published by Chuokoron-Shinsha (formerly Chuokoron-Shinsha). It started out as the journal of the self-cultivation and temperance movement among young monks of Nishi Honganji Temple, called "Hanseikai Zasshi" (1887), and was later renamed "Hansei Zasshi" (1892) and "Chuokoron" (1899). It is the oldest traditional monthly general-purpose magazine that continues to be published today. In 1904 (Meiji 37), Takita Choin became the editor of the magazine, and during the 1910s and 1920s when he became its chief editor, the magazine introduced a succession of progressive ideas, such as Yoshino Sakuzo's theory of democracy, as well as those of Oyama Ikuo and Minobe Tatsukichi. It also established a new literary column and published masterpieces by Natsume Soseki, Shimazaki Toson, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Shiga Naoya, and Nagai Kafu, thereby becoming a mainstream literary and intellectual center.

In 1925 (Taisho 14), the famous editor Choin passed away, and in 1928 (Showa 3), the president of the company, Komanosuke Asada, who was affiliated with Nishi Honganji Temple, handed over the company to Yusaku Shimanaka, who had already been with the company for 16 years and was active in many areas, including the founding of Fujin Koron (1916) at his own initiative, and Chuokoron-sha came to be run by Shimanaka thereafter. Shimanaka, who had talent in both editing and management, expanded the company's business to include the publication of single volumes and complete collections, but during the Pacific War, the editing tendencies of Chuokoron were shunned by the military, and as editors were arrested one after another in the Yokohama Incident, the company was ordered to voluntarily close by the Tojo Cabinet in July 1944. After the war, the company was quickly rebuilt and Chuokoron was republished, and after Yusaku's death in 1949 (Showa 24), his second son Hoji took over the company. In addition to magazines, the company published various books, complete works, "Chuko Shinsho" and "Chuko Bunko," and expanded in scale, but after Hoji's death in 1997, a management crisis emerged and in February 1999 the company was transferred to the Yomiuri Shimbun, with publishing activities being taken over by Chuokoron-Shinsha, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yomiuri. The December 1985 issue of "Chuokoron" featured Fukazawa Shichiro's novel "Furyu Mutan," which drew violent attacks from right-wing groups and became a major issue, but this incident made us think again about the immutability of the Japanese society's constitution and the issues of freedom of speech and expression.

[Mitsuyoshi Ebihara]

"Chuokoron-Shinsha, ed., '80 Years of Chuokoron' (1965)" ▽ "Hatanaka Shigeo, 'Memorandum: A Brief History of the Showa Period of Publishing Oppression' (1965, Tosho Shimbun)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中央公論新社（旧中央公論社）発行の総合雑誌。西本願寺の若い僧侶(そうりょ)の間におこった修養・禁酒運動の機関誌『反省会雑誌』（1887創刊）として出発し、のち『反省雑誌』（1892）、『中央公論』（1899）と改題され、現在も発行され続けている、もっとも古い伝統をもつ月刊総合雑誌である。1904年（明治37）滝田樗陰(ちょいん)が編集者となり、やがて主幹として活躍した10年代から20年代にかけて同誌は、吉野作造の民本主義論や大山郁夫(いくお)、美濃部(みのべ)達吉などの進歩的言論を相次いで世に問い、新たに文芸欄を設けて夏目漱石(そうせき)、島崎藤村(とうそん)、芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)、志賀直哉(なおや)、永井荷風(かふう)の名作を掲載するなどして文壇、論壇の主流を形成していた。

　1925年（大正14）名編集者樗陰が世を去り、28年（昭和3）西本願寺系の社長麻田駒之助(こまのすけ)は、入社以来すでに16年のキャリアをもち、自らの発案で『婦人公論』を創刊（1916）するなど意欲的な活動をしていた嶋中(しまなか)雄作に社業を譲り、以降中央公論社は嶋中によって運営されることになった。編集、経営両面に才能をもつ嶋中は、社業を単行本や全集にまで拡大させたが、太平洋戦争下、『中央公論』の編集傾向が軍の忌避するところとなり、横浜事件で編集者が次々と検挙されるなかで、44年7月東条内閣から自発的閉社を命ぜられた。敗戦後、同社はただちに再建され、『中央公論』も復刊、49年（昭和24）雄作没後は次男鵬二(ほうじ)が社業を継いだ。同社は、雑誌のほか各種の図書、全集類、『中公新書』『中公文庫』などを刊行し、その規模を一段と拡大したが、97年（平成9）に鵬二が死去、経営危機が表面化し99年2月、読売新聞社に譲渡され読売の100％子会社である中央公論新社に出版活動が引き継がれた。『中央公論』60年12月号は、深沢七郎の小説『風流夢譚(むたん)』を掲載して右翼の暴力的攻撃を受け、大きな問題となったが、この事件は、日本社会の体質の不変と言論・表現の自由の問題を改めて考えさせるものであった。

［海老原光義］

『中央公論社編・刊『中央公論の八十年』（1965）』▽『畑中繁雄著『覚書　昭和出版弾圧小史』（1965・図書新聞）』

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