Tarō Jirōsha Editasu

Tarō Jirōsha Editasu (株式会社太郎次郎社エディタス) is a Japanese independent publisher headquartered in Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. It publishes books in fields such as education, society, family and child-rearing, language and kanji, communication and the body, as well as non-fiction, essays and literary titles, and it also plans and produces teaching materials and educational tools for kanji, kana and arithmetic. Its catalogue spans general trade books and classroom-oriented learning materials developed over decades of educational practice. The company's roots lie in Tarō Jirōsha (株式会社太郎次郎社), founded in August 1972 with Asakawa Mitsuru as representative director, in order to launch the monthly education magazine Hito (『ひと』), edited under the editorial leadership of the mathematician Tōyama Hajime. The first issue of Hito appeared in January 1973, against the backdrop of the "dropout" (ochikobore) problem in Japanese elementary and junior high schools. Through Hito and its related publishing, Tarō Jirōsha became a base for a citizen-oriented education movement that sought to reform public education from below, and it published influential works such as Tōyama Hajime's 1976 book Beyond the Principle of Competition (『競争原理を超えて』). In May 2003, Tarō Jirōsha Editasu was established as a new company to carry the business into a new generation. In 2004, through a full transfer of business, all publishing operations and staff were moved from Tarō Jirōsha to Tarō Jirōsha Editasu, and the company has operated under that name since. It reports roughly 500 titles published in total, with about 370 titles currently in print as of May 2023. Its current representative director is Suda Masaharu, and its capital is 10 million yen. Today the company continues to publish general books alongside learning materials intended to pass on the pleasure and depth of learning cultivated through long years of educational practice. Its list includes series such as "Kanji ga tanoshiku naru hon," "Kanji naritachi bukku," "Aiueo asobi," "Rakuraku sansū bukku," and the "Dōbutsu kankyō kaigi" series, as well as reissues and back issues of Hito and related book series. It distributes through major Japanese wholesalers including Nippan, Tohan, Rakuten Books Network, Nikkyōhan, Chūōsha, Yagi Shoten and the Kodomo no Bunka Fukyū Kyōkai, and is a member of the publisher association Hanmoto.com.

The predecessor company, Tarō Jirōsha (株式会社太郎次郎社), was founded in August 1972 with Asakawa Mitsuru as representative director, in order to launch the monthly education magazine Hito (『ひと』), whose editorial representative was the mathematician Tōyama Hajime. The first issue of Hito appeared in January 1973, against the background of the "dropout" (ochikobore) problem: under a curriculum aiming at the "modernization of educational content" — a response to the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik — roughly 65% of elementary school pupils and 80% of junior high school pupils were seen as falling behind. The inaugural issue carried a "Declaration of Education for Children," aiming to stop the fragmentation of children's minds caused by the injection of large amounts of knowledge divided into separate subjects, to fuse the subjects, and to recover the wholeness of the human being. The founding sponsors included Tōyama Hajime, Ishida Usaburō, Itakura Kiyonobu, Endō Toyokichi and Shirai Haruo; citizens, mothers and students joined as editorial committee members, and reader-participation activities such as the "Sunday Hito School" and open editorial meetings (161 of them by the end of 1980) were held, with small local "Hito schools" spreading as civic education activities. Tarō Jirōsha became a base for a citizen-oriented education movement seeking to reform tightly controlled public education from below. In the 1970s, issues of Hito devised "enjoyable lessons" for children and adults and aimed at "enjoyable schools." The 1976 publication of Tōyama Hajime's Beyond the Principle of Competition (『競争原理を超えて』) characterized the company's activity in that decade: it pointed out the errors of five-level relative evaluation based on the Gaussian normal distribution and continued to present arguments and practices for overcoming the ranking system and credential society, including school reports and entrance examinations. Other themes pursued early included special-needs education, pollution, dropouts, and children's suicides and school refusal. In September 1979, editorial representative Tōyama Hajime died; from January 1980 Hito was published without an editorial representative, as "founded by Tōyama Hajime / edited by the Hito Editorial Committee." In the 1980s, as the era shifted from mass production to mass consumption, parents' educational participation that had begun with criticism of the dropout problem was replaced by a role promoting entrance-examination competition. Hito continued to pursue issues such as bullying, violence, corporal punishment and school refusal, the modern family and child-rearing, life, sexuality and death, the Hinomaru and Kimigayo questions, and verification of "legalization movements." A distinctive feature of the 1980s was the treatment of environmental problems in the classroom — food, water, nuclear power, garbage, golf courses, recycled paper, aluminium cans — calling for a shift "from a culture of killing to a culture of life." The 1990s were characterized by a search for a new educational paradigm. Hito temporarily suspended publication with the March 1998 issue, was renewed in September 1999, and ceased publication with the July–August 2000 issue. In May 2003, Tarō Jirōsha Editasu was established to carry the publishing business into a new generation. In 2004, through a full transfer of business, all publishing operations and staff were moved from Tarō Jirōsha to Tarō Jirōsha Editasu, and the company has operated under that name since. On 7 July 2008, Asakawa Mitsuru, the company's representative who had been involved in editing Hito together with Tōyama Hajime, died of pneumonia at the age of 75. The company reports roughly 500 titles published in total, with about 370 currently in print as of May 2023. It continues to publish education books, essays, non-fiction and teaching materials, including the "Dōbutsu kankyō kaigi" series, the "Kanji ga tanoshiku naru hon" series and the "Aiueo asobi" series, and it maintains back-issue stock of Hito and related book series.

• 2023

  Company reports about 500 titles published in total and about 370 currently in print.

• 2008

  Representative Asakawa Mitsuru dies of pneumonia at age 75.

• 2004

  Full transfer of business from Tarō Jirōsha to Tarō Jirōsha Editasu; all publishing operations and staff moved.

• 2003

  Tarō Jirōsha Editasu established as a new company for a new generation of business.

• 2000

  Hito ceases publication with the July–August issue.

• 1999

  Hito is renewed.

• 1998

  Hito temporarily suspends publication with the March issue.

• 1979

  Editorial representative Tōyama Hajime dies; Hito continues under the Hito Editorial Committee from January 1980.

• 1976

  Publication of Tōyama Hajime's Beyond the Principle of Competition (『競争原理を超えて』).

• 1973

  First issue of Hito published, carrying a "Declaration of Education for Children."

• 1972

  Tarō Jirōsha founded with Asakawa Mitsuru as representative director, to launch the monthly education magazine Hito.

An independent Japanese publisher combining general trade books on education, society and family with hands-on kanji, kana and arithmetic learning materials, rooted in the citizen education movement around the magazine Hito.

• Hito (『ひと』) monthly education magazine

• Kanji ga tanoshiku naru hon series

• Kanji naritachi bukku series

• Aiueo asobi series

• Rakuraku sansū bukku

• Tōyama Hajime books and collected works

• Dōbutsu kankyō kaigi series

• Hito BOOKS / Hito bunko / Gendai kyōiku jissen bunko

1. 1太郎次郎社エディタス 公式サイトtarojiro.co.jp
2. 2会社案内｜太郎次郎社エディタスtarojiro.co.jp
3. 3Tarō Jirōsha Editasu - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4太郎次郎社エディタス - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org