Saitō Hō-on Kai

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The Saitō family was a major landowning family in the Sendai Plain of Miyagi Prefecture, said to be the second largest landlord in Japan after the Homma family of Sakata in the Shōnai Plain of Yamagata Prefecture before the postwar land reform. The ninth head, Saitō Zen'emon (1854–1925), owned about 1,500 hectares of fields in Maeyachi Village, Monou District (present-day Ishinomaki City). He was both a wealthy man and an entrepreneur, operating a brewery and pawnshop, and by 1889 he had converted his business to money lending. In the Meiji 40s (1907–), he shifted to an investment company, expanding into electric power, mining, and North Pacific fisheries. In 1910 he established Saitō Co., Ltd., an investment company. In 1892 he was elected to the House of Representatives in the second general election, but resigned after three years due to incompatibility with his business. In 1924, in response to tenant disputes, he established Sendai Trust Co., Ltd. to place his land assets in trust. Saitō studied at the Sendai domain school Yōkendō from a young age and wished for the development of his hometown and local academic research. He was also an avid reader of Fukuzawa Yukichi's works. Holding the belief that "property is a deposit from the gods and Buddhas, not a private possession," he began devoting his private fortune to public-interest projects around 1919. The establishment of the Saitō Hō-on Kai was part of this flow. When establishing the foundation, he listened to the opinions of experts nationwide and consulted with Inoue Nikichi and Ogawa Masataka, presidents of Tōhoku Imperial University, before deciding to set up the foundation. The establishment of the incorporated foundation Saitō Hō-on Kai required approvals from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and all other government agencies. Saitō visited government offices day after day until it was finally realized. The difficulty in obtaining approval was because the foundation's purpose was to provide academic research grants, and a foundation with a research division was unprecedented in Japan at the time. The establishment was approved on February 20, 1923, with a contribution of 3 million yen of private funds. The initial office was located at 85 Higashi-Nibanchō, Sendai City. The purpose was to conduct projects such as "the establishment of specific academic research institutes centering on the Tōhoku region, especially Sendai City, and subsidies for equipment and research expenses necessary for general academic research; facilities necessary for industrial development; enlightenment and guidance of national thought and cultivation of national consciousness; and other facilities necessary for the promotion of social welfare." The Saitō Hō-on Kai became the first Japanese foundation whose purpose was to provide academic research grants, and it is said to have influenced later foundations such as the Mitsui Hō-on Kai and the Hattori Hōkō Kai. For the operation of the foundation, Professor Hatai Shinkishi, who had just arrived at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Tōhoku Imperial University from the Wistar Institute in the United States, was invited to concurrently serve as Director of the Academic Research Department of the Saitō Hō-on Kai. Many research activities were supported by the foundation. Among them, Yagi Hidetsugu, Nukiyama Heiichi, and Chiba Shigetarō of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tōhoku Imperial University, received a total of 225,000 yen in subsidies by 1934 for "research on communication methods using electricity," which greatly advanced research on the Yagi–Uda antenna and high-frequency utilization using vacuum tubes. After the war, the scale of research grants was reduced due to the post-war new yen conversion and the erosion of the fund's asset value due to inflation. Meanwhile, seeking revenue sources other than the fund, the foundation operated a building rental business, renting out meeting rooms and halls by the hour in the building owned by the foundation at 2-chōme Honchō, Aoba-ku, Sendai, which housed the foundation's museum and office. However, due to the difficulty of managing funds amid the low interest rates following the collapse of the bubble economy, the land and buildings were sold in 2006 and the business continued as a tenant, but in March 2009 it withdrew from the location, moved to 2-chōme Ōmachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai in the autumn of 2009, and finally the foundation was dissolved in September 2015. In October 1933, the Saitō Hō-on Kai opened the Saitō Hō-on Kai Museum (designed by Ogura Tsuyoshi). This had the second-longest history after the National Science Museum in Tokyo. The collection included about 100,000 items, such as fossil specimens of shellfish and fish, a Naumann elephant skeleton, and stuffed birds. It was damaged in the Sendai air raid of July 10, 1945, and closed. In the post-war occupation period, on May 27, 1948, the first and second floors were leased to the "Sendai CIE Library" to earn rental income, and the office resumed. In 1950, an English-language museum essay collection was published, and in 1951 the academic research grant program resumed, and in the same year it was accredited as a museum by Miyagi Prefecture. When the occupation ended with the coming into effect of the San Francisco Peace Treaty on April 28, 1952, the "Sendai CIE Library" was abolished, but it was taken over by the "Sendai American Cultural Center" operated by the U.S. Department of State. From 1953, the foundation resumed natural history exhibitions on the third floor. In 1968, when the "Sendai American Cultural Center" moved to the Chōgin Building in Higashi-Nibanchō, the "Sendai Museum" opened in the building in February 1969. The director was Sassa Hisashi. In 1973, on the occasion of the foundation's 50th anniversary, it was decided to rebuild, and the "Sendai Museum" moved to the newly completed Kahoku Building in Ichibanchō, and the museum was demolished. In 1975, the Sendai Central Hotel in front of Sendai Station was newly built and moved to the adjacent site and became Hotel Sendai Plaza, and in November 1976 the Saitō Hō-on Kai Hall opened. The hall consisted of the foundation office, natural history museum, and rental meeting rooms, and the museum was renamed the "Saitō Hō-on Kai Natural History Museum." In 2006, due to the deterioration of business conditions, the land and building of the museum were sold. The museum continued to operate as a tenant, but in March 2009 the natural history museum closed and the foundation office moved. In preparation for this move, the collection of the natural history museum was donated to the National Museum of Nature and Science. In the autumn of 2009, the foundation office moved to 2-chōme Ōmachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, facing Nishi Park, and the "Pocket Museum Saitō Hō-on Kai" opened there. The Pocket Museum closed at the end of March 2015, and the collection was donated to the City of Sendai.

• 2015

  The Pocket Museum closes at the end of March; the foundation is dissolved at the end of September after a resolution on September 2.

• 2009

  The natural history museum closes in March; the foundation office moves to Ōmachi in autumn and opens the Pocket Museum.

• 2006

  The land and building of the museum are sold due to worsening business conditions.

• 1976

  The Saitō Hō-on Kai Hall opens in November; the museum is renamed the Saitō Hō-on Kai Natural History Museum.

• 1973

  On the 50th anniversary, the museum is demolished and the Sendai Museum moves to the Kahoku Building.

• 1969

  The Sendai Museum opens in the building in February.

• 1953

  Natural history exhibitions resume on the third floor.

• 1951

  The foundation resumes academic research grants and is accredited as a museum by Miyagi Prefecture.

• 1948

  The first and second floors are leased to the Sendai CIE Library on May 27, and the office resumes.

• 1945

  The museum is damaged in the Sendai air raid on July 10 and suspends operations.

• 1933

  The Saitō Hō-on Kai Museum opens in October, designed by Ogura Tsuyoshi.

• 1924

  Saitō Zen'emon establishes Sendai Trust Co., Ltd. in response to tenant disputes.

• 1923

  The incorporated foundation Saitō Hō-on Kai is approved on February 20 with a 3 million yen endowment.

• 1910

  Saitō Zen'emon establishes Saitō Co., Ltd., an investment company.

• 1854

  Saitō Zen'emon, later founder of the foundation, is born.

A pioneering philanthropic foundation for academic research funding and natural history museum operation in Japan, with a focus on Tōhoku region and Sendai.

• Academic research grants

  Grants for university research, with a focus on large-scale and collaborative projects.

• Saitō Hō-on Kai Museum (later Natural History Museum)

  A natural history museum with about 100,000 specimens, opened in 1933.

• Pocket Museum Saitō Hō-on Kai

  A small museum opened in 2009 in Ōmachi, Sendai, closed in 2015.

1. 1斎藤報恩会 - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
2. 2Saitō Hō-on Kai - Wikidatawikidata.org