Nobuo Okishio (置塩 信雄; January 2, 1927 – November 13, 2003) was a Japanese Marxian economist and emeritus professor of…Nobuo Okishio (置塩 信雄; January 2, 1927 – November 13, 2003) was a Japanese Marxian economist and emeritus professor of Kobe University. In 1979, he was elected President of the Japan Association of Economics and Econometrics, which is now called Japanese Economic Association. Okishio studied mathematical economics under Kazuo Mizutani. In 1950 he graduated from Kobe University and later taught there. He soon began to doubt the premises and results of modern economics, and decided to search for alternatives by studying Marxian economics. Okishio worked to clarify the logic of Karl Marx’s economic system, offering formal and mathematical proofs for many Marxian theorems. For example, in 1955, he gave the world's first proof of the “Marxian fundamental theorem”, as it was later named by Michio Morishima, which is the theory that the exploitation of surplus labor is the necessary condition for the existence of positive profit. Concerning Marx’s Falling Rate of Profit, Okishio considered that his famous theorem would not deny it. Okishio wrote many papers covering various important fields in modern and Marxian economics, for example value and price, accumulation theory, critical analysis of Keynesian economics, trade cycle theory and on the long run tendency of capitalistic economy. They were published in over twenty books and two hundred papers, almost all in Japanese. About thirty of his published papers have been translated in English, and much of these materials are collected in the book (Nobuo Okishio, Michael Kruger and Peter Flaschel, 1993).
Toshio Shimao (島尾 敏雄, Shimao Toshio; April 18, 1917 – November 12, 1986) was a Japanese novelist. He has been called a…Toshio Shimao (島尾 敏雄, Shimao Toshio; April 18, 1917 – November 12, 1986) was a Japanese novelist. He has been called a "writer's writer", which is used as both a compliment and criticism.
Shinji Hamazaki (浜崎 真二, 10 December 1901 – May 6, 1981) was a Japanese baseball player and manager. Thought short in…Shinji Hamazaki (浜崎 真二, 10 December 1901 – May 6, 1981) was a Japanese baseball player and manager. Thought short in stature, Hamazaki was well known for his forceful personality. He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Hamazaki attended Hiroshima Shogyo High School and Keio University. Hamazaki was signed at age 45 by the Hankyu Braves in 1947 prior to the draft, having previously played for the Chinese mainland Industrial League Mantetsu Club. He began as a player-manager for the Braves. In 1950, at age 48 years, 4 months, Hamazki became the oldest Japanese pitcher to win a professional game. That record stood until September 5, 2014, when Masahiro Yamamoto, aged 49 years, 25 days, defeated the Hanshin Tigers. Finally retiring as a player in 1950, Hamazaki continued managing the Braves through 1953. He later managed the Takahashi/Tombo Unions and the Kokutetsu Swallows. His career managing record was 535-639, a .456 winning percentage.
Hide Kawanishi (川西 英, Kawanishi Hide; 9 July 1894 – 20 February 1965) was a Japanese painter. His work was part of the…Hide Kawanishi (川西 英, Kawanishi Hide; 9 July 1894 – 20 February 1965) was a Japanese painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.
Sanzō Nosaka (野坂 参三, Nosaka Sanzō; March 30, 1892 – November 14, 1993) was a Japanese writer, editor, labor organizer…Sanzō Nosaka (野坂 参三, Nosaka Sanzō; March 30, 1892 – November 14, 1993) was a Japanese writer, editor, labor organizer, communist agent, politician, and university professor and a founder of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). He was the son of a wealthy Japanese merchant, and attended Keio University. While in university, Nosaka became interested in social movements, and joined a moderate labor organization after graduation, working as a research staff member, and as a writer and editor of the organization's magazine. He traveled to Britain in 1919 to study political economy, where he deepened his studies of Marxism and became a confirmed communist. Nosaka was a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, but his activity within British communist circles led to him being deported from Britain in 1921. After leaving Britain, Nosaka traveled through the Soviet Union (USSR). He returned to Japan in 1922, where he co-founded the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). Nosaka became a labor organizer, but was arrested twice by the Japanese government for his activities. After being released from prison a second time, Nosaka secretly returned to the USSR in 1931, where he became an agent of the Comintern. He traveled to the West Coast of the United States, where he worked as a spy from 1934 to 1938. After leaving the United States, Nosaka worked in China from 1940 to 1945, supporting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by encouraging and recruiting captured Japanese soldiers to support and fight for the Chinese communists against the Imperial Japanese Army, and coordinating a spy network that operated throughout Japanese-occupied China. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Nosaka returned to Japan with hundreds of other Japanese communists, where he led the JCP during the occupation by the Allies. Nosaka attempted to brand the JCP as a "lovable" populist party supporting Japan's peaceful transition to socialism, but his strategy was criticized within the party and within the Soviet Union. During the Korean War the JCP temporarily endorsed violence, and Nosaka disappeared from public life and went underground. He re-emerged to lead the JCP again in 1955, after which he attempted to disrupt the US-Japan Security Treaty by organizing public demonstrations, but he generally supported the JCP's role as a peaceful party. In 1958 Nosaka became Chairman of the JCP, a position he held until retirement at the age of 90, after which he was declared Honorary Chairman. Nosaka joined the faculty of Keio University, and he was widely idolized among left-wing intellectuals until shortly before his death, when the fall of the Soviet Union exposed controversial aspects of his relationship with Joseph Stalin's Communist regime.