Seiji Noma

Japanese: 野間清治 - のま・せいじ

Year of death: October 16, 1938
Year of birth: December 7, 1878 (11th year of the Meiji era)
A publishing company manager in the Taisho and Showa periods. Born in Shinjuku Village (Kiryu City), Yamada County, Gunma Prefecture. He graduated from a normal school in 1900 (Meiji 33) and became a teacher, but in 1902 he entered the temporary teacher training institute of the Faculty of Letters of Tokyo Imperial University. After graduation, he taught at a junior high school in Okinawa, before joining the faculty of the Faculty of Law of Tokyo Imperial University in 1902. He helped to establish the Midori-kai debate club, which was at the forefront of the popularity of oratory at the time. He came up with a plan to transcribe and print students' speeches, founded the Dai Nippon Oratory Society himself, and launched the magazine Yuben in 1908. He founded Kodansha in 1901, and in the same year launched the magazine Kodan Club, which transcribed and printed yose entertainment such as kodan and rakugo, which was a huge success. He went on to launch magazines such as Shonen Club, Shojo Club, and Fujin Club, building a magazine empire. Among them, "King" was a popular magazine that was both entertaining and informative, and boasted a circulation of over one million copies, as its catchphrase stated. The impact of its publications on the public's consciousness was so great that the term "Kodansha culture" was even coined. <Works> "Autobiography" <References> "The Biography of Seiji Noma," edited by the Seiji Noma Biography Editorial Committee

(Teruo Ariyama)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和13.10.16(1938)
生年：明治11.12.7(1878)
大正昭和期の出版事業経営者。群馬県山田郡新宿村(桐生市)の生まれ。明治33(1900)年尋常師範学校を卒業し,教師になったが,35年東京帝大文科大学臨時教員養成所に入学。卒業後,沖縄中学校教諭を経て,40年東京帝大法科大学職員となる。折からの雄弁術流行の先頭に立っていた緑会弁論部の創立を助力した。学生の弁論を筆記し活字化する企画をたて,自ら大日本雄弁会を設立,43年雑誌『雄弁』を創刊。44年講談社を創立し,同年講談落語などの寄席芸能を筆記活字化した雑誌『講談倶楽部』を発刊し,大きな成功をおさめた。以後,『少年倶楽部』『少女倶楽部』『婦人倶楽部』などの雑誌を創刊し,雑誌王国を築いた。なかでも,『キング』は,「おもしろくて,ためになる」のキャッチフレーズ通り娯楽と修養を兼備した大衆雑誌として100万部を突破する部数を誇った。「講談社文化」という言葉も生まれたほど,その出版物が大衆の意識に与えた影響は大きい。<著作>『自叙伝』<参考文献>野間清治伝記編纂会編『野間清治伝』

(有山輝雄)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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