Abstract
Kanemaru was a legacy child, born into a family that conferred wealth and privilege. Kanemaru’s arranged marriage to Reiko Misawa in 1942 linked his fortunes to one of Yamanashi’s more powerful families. Kanemaru escaped the ravages of World War II to become a successful businessman. Yamanashi prefecture in the postwar era (1945–1958), like Japan as a whole, became the venue for a political contest between a divided but assertive Left and conservatives of various persuasions. Following in the family business tradition, Kanemaru increased his involvement in local politics in the early 1958, becoming an effective fundraiser. Key patrons like Tadahiko Natori and Hisatada Hirose bankrolled his successful campaign for national office in 1958 as a member of the Sato group of the Liberal Democratic Party.
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Notes
For general information about Japan’s first election, see R.H.P. Mason, Japan’s First General Election: 1890 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969).
Shin Kanemaru, Tachiwaza newaza - watashi no rirekisho(My Autobiography: A Judo Ace with Special Skills) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsa, 1988).
Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 222–223.
Koichiro Sueki, ed., Ikki sugireba tsutoshi machigaeru - Kanemaru Shin goroku nijyushichi nenkann no ashiato (If You Go Too Far, You’ll Stab Each Other: The Public Record of Shin Kanemaru’s 27 Years of Press Conferences) (Tokyo: Yokobasu Publications, 1985), 38; and Steven R. Reed, Japan Election Data: The House of Representatives, 1947–1990 (Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan), 203–205.
Akira Washio, Kanemaru Shin: zenjinso (A Complete Portrait of Shin Kanemaru) (Tokyo: Yosei Mondai Kenkyujo, 1984), 125.
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© 2015 Uldis Kruze
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Kruze, U. (2015). The Young Kanemaru (1918–1958): Early Life and Career in Yamanashi Prefecture. In: Shin Kanemaru and the Tragedy of Japan’s Political System. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137457370_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137457370_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
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