Shigeo Iwanami

Publishing manager. Born in Nagano Prefecture on August 27, 1881. He studied at the Japanese Middle School, admiring the Japanese thinker Sugiura Shigetake. He entered the First Higher School, but dropped out after becoming troubled by the problems of life. After graduating from the Department of Philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University, he became a teacher at Kanda Girls' School, but soon resigned. In 1913 (Taisho 2), he opened a second-hand bookstore, Iwanami Shoten, in Kanda. He gained credibility by selling books at price tags, contrary to the business practices of the time. After becoming acquainted with Natsume Soseki, he published Kokoro in 1914 and entered the publishing business. The following year, in 1915, he published Philosophy Series, edited and written by Abe Yoshishige and Abe Jiro, his friends from First Higher School. In 1917, he published the first "Complete Works of Soseki," steadily establishing himself in the publishing world. In the early Showa period, ignoring the boom in yen books, he launched the Iwanami Bunko, modeled on the German Reclam Library, with the aim of popularizing classics from both the East and the West. He also published many other complete works, lectures, and academic books, building a comprehensive publisher covering literature, social sciences, and natural sciences. Many literary figures and scholars gathered around him, and a unique publishing culture was built that came to be known as "Iwanami culture." In February 1946 (Showa 21), he was the first person to receive the Order of Culture after the war. He died on April 25th of the same year.

[Teruo Ariyama]

"The Life of Iwanami Shigeo, by Abe Yoshinari (1957, Iwanami Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

出版経営者。明治14年8月27日長野県に生まれる。日本主義の思想家杉浦重剛(しげたけ)を慕って日本中学校に学ぶ。第一高等学校に入学したが、人生問題に煩悶(はんもん)したすえ退学。東京帝国大学哲学科選科を卒業後、神田女学校教師となったが、まもなく辞職。1913年（大正2）神田に古書店岩波書店を開業した。当時の商慣習に反して正札販売を行い信用を得た。夏目漱石(そうせき)の知遇を受け、1914年『こゝろ』を出版し、出版業に乗り出す。翌1915年には一高以来の友人安倍能成(よししげ)、阿部次郎らが編集、執筆した『哲学叢書(そうしょ)』を刊行。1917年、最初の『漱石全集』を刊行するなど着々と出版界に地歩を固めた。昭和初期には円本(えんぽん)ブームをしり目に、ドイツのレクラム文庫に範をとり、東西の古典普及を目ざす岩波文庫を刊行。このほかにも多くの全集、講座、学術書を出版し、文学、社会科学、自然科学にわたる総合的出版社をつくりあげた。彼の周辺には多くの文学者や学者が集まり、「岩波文化」とも称される独自の出版文化が築かれた。1946年（昭和21）2月戦後初の文化勲章受章。同年4月25日死去。

［有山輝雄］

『安倍能成著『岩波茂雄伝』（1957・岩波書店）』

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