Sahei Ohashi

Japanese: 大橋佐平 - おおはし・さへい

Year of death: November 3, 1901 (Meiji 34)
Year of birth: Tempo 6.12.22 (1836.2.8)
A publisher in the Meiji period. Born the second son of Watanabe Matashichi and Yose, a lumber merchant from Nagaoka, Echigo (Niigata Prefecture), he took the surname when his relative the Ohashi family died out. After being involved in local town government, he planned to publish a newspaper, and founded the Hokuetsu Shimbun Company and the Echigo-Sagami Mainichi Shimbun Company. He also tried his hand at running a bookstore and publishing books. In 1886 (Meiji 19), he handed over the management of the Echigo-Sagami Mainichi Shimbun Company to his son Shintaro and moved to Tokyo, where he founded the publishing company Hakubunkan. In 1887, he published the magazine Nihon Daika Ronshu, which compiled key articles from various magazines and was a huge success. Until then, there had been little awareness of copyright in articles, but this prompted the revision of publishing ordinances and the establishment of the Copyright Ordinance. After that, together with Shintaro who had moved to Tokyo, he published a number of magazines in various genres, such as "Japanese Women's Studies" and "Japanese Merchants" (both in 1887), and expanded Hakubunkan into one of the leading publishing companies. Their success was due to the fact that they kept prices low, as was called "low profit, high volume sales," and they cultivated a wide readership, not just a select few intellectuals. They also expanded into book publishing, and produced large-scale publications such as "Complete Collection of Japanese Literature" and "Teikoku Bunko." Among these, the magazine "Taiyo," first published in 1893, was a general magazine that covered a wide range of articles from politics, economics, and literature to home life, and symbolized the spirit of the prosperous capitalism of the latter half of the Meiji period. They also entered into the management of printing and communications businesses, and were successful. Their role in commercializing publishing was significant in the intellectual world of the Meiji period. <References> Tsuboya Zenshiro, "The Life of Ohashi Sahei-o"

(Teruo Ariyama)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治34.11.3(1901)
生年：天保6.12.22(1836.2.8)
明治期の出版業者。越後(新潟県)長岡の材木商渡辺又七,与瀬の次男に生まれたが,親戚大橋家断絶のためその姓を継ぐ。地元の町政に携わったのち,新聞発行を計画し,北越新聞社,越佐毎日新聞社を設立した。かたわら書店経営,図書出版も試みた。明治19(1886)年,越佐毎日新聞社の経営を息子新太郎に委ねて上京,出版社博文館を創立し,20年,諸雑誌の主要記事を転載して,ひとつにまとめた雑誌『日本大家論集』を発刊し,大きな成功を得た。それまでは記事の著作権については認識が乏しかったのが,これを契機に出版条例が改正され,版権条例が制定された。以後,上京した新太郎と共に『日本之女学』『日本之商人』(ともに1887)などさまざまなジャンルの雑誌を数多く次々と発刊し,博文館を有数の出版社に拡大させた。その成功は「薄利多売」と称された通り,価格を低くおさえ,一部知識層だけでなく広範な読者を開拓したところにある。図書の出版にも手を広げ,『日本文学全書』『帝国文庫』などの大規模な出版物の刊行を実現した。なかでも28年創刊の雑誌『太陽』は,政治,経済,文芸から家庭までさまざまな記事を網羅した総合雑誌として明治後半期の興隆期資本主義の精神を象徴している。また,印刷業,通信業の経営にも乗りだし,成功をおさめた。出版を企業化した点で,明治期の知的世界に果たした役割は大きい。<参考文献>坪谷善四郎『大橋佐平翁伝』

(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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