Makihara Satoru

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In this Japanese name, the surname is Makihara.
Makihara Satoru
槙原 覚
Born1 March 1894
Empire of Japan
Died8 May 1942 (aged 48)
East China Sea
NationalityJapanese
OccupationIndustrialist

Makihara Satoru (槙原 覚) was a Japanese businessman in the period leading up to World War II.

Early career[edit]

In 1922 he co-translated from German into Japanese the corporate management book Die Unternehmungsformen: mit Einschluß der Genossenschaften und der Sozialisierun by Robert Liefmann.[1]

He was a rival of Takagaki Katsujirō [ja],[2] Mitsubishi's last president before the dissolution of the zaibatsu and first president after its reconstitution.

Arrest in London[edit]

Having received a scholarship from Iwasaki Hisaya [ja], eldest son of Mitsubishi Corporation's founder Iwasaki Yatarō,[2] Makihara and his wife Haruko[2] went to Hampstead, London in 1927 as head of the Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha office.[2][3] Their only child,[2] a son Minoru Makihara was born there in 1930.[2] After some time elsewhere they returned to London in 1937.[3]

On Friday 2 August 1940, Makihara and several others were arrested on suspicion of espionage, and taken to Brixton prison.[3][4][5][6] Thanks to intervention by the Japanophile (and pro-Japanese spy) Lord Sempill[7] and others, he was released a few days later, on Monday 5 August, due to "insufficient evidence".[3][8]

Return to Japan and death[edit]

Mitsubishi closed their London office in October 1940, whereupon Makihara returned to Tokyo, becoming General Manager of the company's Marine Products Division.[3]

In May 1942, he was ordered by the military to travel to Japan's colonies in southeast Asia to aid in reconstruction.[2] While en route, their ship Taiyō Maru was torpedoed (on 8 May 1942) by USS Grenadier near the Danjo islands [ja; de] to the west of Kyūshū, with 800 deaths including Makihara.[2] Many colleagues contributed to a book of reminiscences.[9]

Family[edit]

His wife and son were allowed to live in the Kokubunji villa of Iwasaki Hikoyata [ja], eldest son of Hisaya, partly also helped by the fact that Minoru and Hikoyata's son Iwasaki Hiroya [ja] had been friends at school.[2] The main building was requisitioned to become the headquarters of the Anglican Church in Japan, and there Minoru met Bishop Kenneth Bayer from Harvard University.[2] As Minoru had twice won the General MacArthur English Speech Contest, Bayer introduced him to St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire), from where he progressed to Harvard.[2] He later went on to become president and chair of Mitsubishi,[3] and married Kikuko, daughter of Hisaya's son Iwasaki Takaya [ja].[10]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "ロバート・リーフマン原著、増地庸治郎・槙原覚共訳「企業形態論」". 鹿児島大学附属図書館 OPAC (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "最新日本政財界地図（７）日本の戦後と日本聖公会". www.asahi-net.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rudlin, Pernille (2014). The History of Mitsubishi Corporation in London: 1915 to Present Day. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 9781135127404. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  4. ^ "三菱商事三井物産支店長ロンドンで逮捕さる". www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp (in Japanese). 大阪朝日新聞. 4 August 1940. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Japanese Detained Under Defence Laws In London". The Straits Times. 4 August 1940. p. 1. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Japanese roundup by British protested". Baltimore Evening Sun. 3 August 1940. p. 1. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  7. ^ Elston, Paul (Producer); Pigott-Smith, Tim (Narrator) (2012). The Fall of Singapore: The Great Betrayal. Brave New Media for BBC2 (Television production). All3Media International. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  8. ^ "England releases one arrested Jap". Kannapolis Daily Independent. 6 August 1940. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  9. ^ 故槙原覚氏追悼録編纂委員会 (1943). "槙原覚君の憶出". webcatplus.nii.ac.jp (in Japanese).
  10. ^ "槙原家". 閨閥学 －偉人たちの経歴・家族・子孫 (in Japanese). 19 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
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