Jiro Okabe

Okabe was born in Kasuga-mura, Shinano Province (present-day Saku, Nagano) on September 30, 1864. He was the second son of Yamon Okabe.『信濃人物略誌』p.53-54 After attending Ueda Middle School (now called Ueda High School), Okabe studied English at Dōjinsha in Tokyo.『現代日本の政治家』p.22-23 In 1885 he followed Korekiyo Takahashi to America. While living in Oakland in 1889, he converted to Christianity. He then moved to the Kingdom of Hawaii with Harvey Saburo Hayashi in the same year.{{Cite book|title=Hawai no Nihongo shinbun zasshi jiten: 1892-2000|author=Suzuki, Kei|author2=鈴木啓|isbn=9784783899600|edition=Shohan|location=Shizuoka-shi|oclc=1018365873|date = December 2017}}

In Hawaii, Okabe was ordained on July 20, 1890, and started the first Japanese church in Hilo, the Church of the Holy Cross, on January 18, 1891.{{Cite journal|date=June 1891|title=The Japanese Mission|journal=28th Annual Report of the Board of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association}} He was transferred to Honolulu in 1893.{{Cite news|url=http://holycrosshilo.com/history/|title=History|date=2012-03-07|work=Church of the Holy Cross|access-date=2018-10-23|language=en-US}} Shortly after transferring to Honolulu, he returned to Japan to recruit more Japanese missionaries, including Takie Okumura and Shiro Sokabe.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/japaneseamerican00dias|title=Japanese American history : an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present|date=1993|publisher=Facts on File|others=Niiya, Brian., Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)|isbn=0816026807|location=New York|oclc=26853950|url-access=registration}} He also inherited the "Hawai Shinbun", a Japanese-language newspaper, from Jukichi Uchida in 1894, but quickly transferred it to Kenichiro Hoshida.

During the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Okabe was on the side of the anti-monarchists. He joined the Citizens' Guard and worked to quell riots, fearing that the bad reputation of Japanese immigrants at the time would grow worse if they rioted. Once the riots were calmed, the royalists within the Japanese community didn't trust Okabe, and he left Hawaii in 1895.{{Cite book|title=Takie Okumura : a life lived in service to Japanese in Hawaii|last=Nakagawa|first=Fusa|publisher=Ozorasha|translator=Reddington, Kenneth Paul |year=2015|isbn=9784283013148|edition= First|location=Tokyo|oclc=956481890}}

After his time in Hawaii, he returned to the American mainland and attended the University of California. After graduation, he earned a doctorate at the University of Chicago. He also studied abroad at the London School of Economics, Heidelberg University, and the University of Paris.

In 1899 Okabe returned to Japan and worked as a translator for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After that he helped Hirobumi Ito and Kunitake Watanabe form the Rikken Seiyūkai.『新代議士名鑑』p.199 He also became the head writer of the Hokkai Times. When the Russo-Japanese War started Okabe worked as the director of foreign correspondents. After the war Okabe became the head of Yingkou's military government's diplomacy, resident affairs, and administrative divisions in quick succession.『代議士詳覧』p.327

Okabe was elected to office during the Japanese General Election, 1912. He was re-elected four times.

He died on July 8, 1925. On the previous day he had been awarded the title Jushi-i.『官報』第3863号「叙任及辞令」1925年7月9日。

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|title=大正十三年五月当選 代議士詳覧|last=広幡明男|publisher=泰山堂|year=1924}}
• {{Cite book|title=新代議士名鑑|last=加藤紫泉|publisher=国民教育会|year=1924}}
• {{Cite book|title=信濃人物略誌|publisher=信濃青年会|year=1919}}
• {{Cite book|title=現代日本の政治家|last=細井肇|publisher=国光社|year=1916}}

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Category:1925 deaths

Category:1864 births

Category:Politicians from Nagano Prefecture

Category:People of the Russo-Japanese War

Category:Japanese newspaper editors

Category:Japanese journalists

Category:Japanese businesspeople

Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan)