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Created page with "*''Birth: 1863/11/15'' *''Death: 1927/4/6'' *''Japanese'': 志賀重昂 ''(Shiga Shigetaka)'' Shiga Shigetaka was a prominent thinker, geographer, and politician of t..."
*''Birth: [[1863]]/11/15''
*''Death: 1927/4/6''
*''Japanese'': [[志賀]]重昂 ''(Shiga Shigetaka)''
Shiga Shigetaka was a prominent thinker, geographer, and politician of the [[Meiji period|Meiji]] and Taishô periods.
He was born the eldest son of [[Shiga Shigemoto]]<!--志賀重職-->, a retainer in the service of [[Okazaki han]]. In [[1874]], Shigetaka moved to [[Tokyo]], where he studied at the [[University of Tokyo]] and [[Kogyokusha|Kôgyokusha]], before graduating in [[1884]] from Sapporo Agricultural College. Two years later, he journeyed around the South Sea Islands (Micronesia) aboard the naval vessel ''Tsukuba'', completing the book ''Nan'yô jiji'' the following year, based on his observations. In [[1888]], along with [[Miyake Setsurei]] and others, he established a group called Seikyôsha, which then began publishing a magazine called ''Nihonjin''. Emphasizing the preservation of national characteristics, the magazine supported the First [[Imperial Diet|Imperial Diet's]] hard stances against foreign powers. Shigetaka was later active in similar groups, including Dôshikai and Chûô-seisha, and a number of different political parties.
In [[1897]], he became head of the Mountains and Forestry Bureau within the [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce]]. He was appointed a councilor to the [[Foreign Ministry]] the following year, and was elected to the Lower House of the Diet twice, in [[1902]] and [[1903]], though he lost his seat in the [[1904]] elections.
After that, he left politics, and pursued a life as a traveler and geographer. His ''Nihon fûkei ron'' ("Theory of Japanese Landscape"), published in [[1894]], became a bestseller and is said to have played a significant role in changing people's attitudes about the beauty of Japan. His other publications included ''Sekai sansui zukan'' ("Illustrated Landscapes of the World") in [[1911]], and ''Shirarezaru kuniguni'' ("Unknown Countries").
Among the many artistic and cultural treasures to have passed through his hands is a wooden plaque which once hung in the Hokuden ("North Hall") of [[Shuri castle]], the royal palace of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. Inscribed with the calligraphy of [[Chinese investiture envoys|Chinese investiture envoy]] [[Wang Meng-lou]]<!--王夢楼-->, the plaque was given to Shigetaka as a gift, and later donated by him to the city of Okazaki. This precious treasure of Ryukyuan history is today housed at the Okazaki Mindscape Museum.<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomo no ura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan 福山市鞆の浦歴史民俗資料館 (2006), 13.</ref>
==References==
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BF%97%E8%B3%80%E9%87%8D%E6%98%82 Shiga Shigetaka]," ''Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten'' 朝日日本歴史人物事典, Asahi Shimbun-sha.
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]
[[Category:Samurai]]
*''Death: 1927/4/6''
*''Japanese'': [[志賀]]重昂 ''(Shiga Shigetaka)''
Shiga Shigetaka was a prominent thinker, geographer, and politician of the [[Meiji period|Meiji]] and Taishô periods.
He was born the eldest son of [[Shiga Shigemoto]]<!--志賀重職-->, a retainer in the service of [[Okazaki han]]. In [[1874]], Shigetaka moved to [[Tokyo]], where he studied at the [[University of Tokyo]] and [[Kogyokusha|Kôgyokusha]], before graduating in [[1884]] from Sapporo Agricultural College. Two years later, he journeyed around the South Sea Islands (Micronesia) aboard the naval vessel ''Tsukuba'', completing the book ''Nan'yô jiji'' the following year, based on his observations. In [[1888]], along with [[Miyake Setsurei]] and others, he established a group called Seikyôsha, which then began publishing a magazine called ''Nihonjin''. Emphasizing the preservation of national characteristics, the magazine supported the First [[Imperial Diet|Imperial Diet's]] hard stances against foreign powers. Shigetaka was later active in similar groups, including Dôshikai and Chûô-seisha, and a number of different political parties.
In [[1897]], he became head of the Mountains and Forestry Bureau within the [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce]]. He was appointed a councilor to the [[Foreign Ministry]] the following year, and was elected to the Lower House of the Diet twice, in [[1902]] and [[1903]], though he lost his seat in the [[1904]] elections.
After that, he left politics, and pursued a life as a traveler and geographer. His ''Nihon fûkei ron'' ("Theory of Japanese Landscape"), published in [[1894]], became a bestseller and is said to have played a significant role in changing people's attitudes about the beauty of Japan. His other publications included ''Sekai sansui zukan'' ("Illustrated Landscapes of the World") in [[1911]], and ''Shirarezaru kuniguni'' ("Unknown Countries").
Among the many artistic and cultural treasures to have passed through his hands is a wooden plaque which once hung in the Hokuden ("North Hall") of [[Shuri castle]], the royal palace of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. Inscribed with the calligraphy of [[Chinese investiture envoys|Chinese investiture envoy]] [[Wang Meng-lou]]<!--王夢楼-->, the plaque was given to Shigetaka as a gift, and later donated by him to the city of Okazaki. This precious treasure of Ryukyuan history is today housed at the Okazaki Mindscape Museum.<ref>''Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu'' 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomo no ura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan 福山市鞆の浦歴史民俗資料館 (2006), 13.</ref>
==References==
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BF%97%E8%B3%80%E9%87%8D%E6%98%82 Shiga Shigetaka]," ''Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten'' 朝日日本歴史人物事典, Asahi Shimbun-sha.
<references/>
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]
[[Category:Samurai]]