was a Japanese government official.

Early life and career

Sahashi was born in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

in 1913 to a middle-class family (his father was a small businessman). He studied law at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, graduating in 1937, and joined the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) as a low-level bureaucrat. His work at the Ministry was interrupted by a stint in the military during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, but he returned to the civil service in 1941 and rose through the ranks until by 1957 he was in a position of some influence.

Career at the MITI

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the MCI became the

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a Ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industri ...

(MITI). In 1961, Sahashi was appointed as director of the MITI's Enterprises Bureau. In this role, he worked with Morizumi Yoshikiko (whom he recalled from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) to adapt and import the French concept of '' économie concertée'', which the two men developed into a system of co-operation between the private and public sectors to revitalise Japan's own economy. Within MITI, Sahashi led the "nationalist faction", which aimed at strengthening Japan's domestic economy. In 1962, Sahashi proposed and championed a piece of legislation called the ''Tokoshin Hō'', or "Draft Law of Special Measures for the Promotion of Designated Industries". This law (based on French precedents) would have created numerous central controls over Japanese industry, electing industry committees composed of MITI and industry sector representatives to oversee investments and spending within domestic companies. The ''Tokoshin Hō'' was strongly resisted by the financial sector and by commercial banks, and this opposition, together with factionalisation within the MITI, led ultimately to the collapse of the proposal. Sahashi served as vice-minister of the MITI between 1964 and 1966. He was originally recommended for the position in 1963 by the retiring incumbent Matsuo Kinzō. However, Fukuda Hajime, then chief minister of MITI, overruled the decision, appointing Imai Yoshie instead. This breach of protocol caused outrage within the ministry, bringing its day-to-day operations to a standstill; the MITI Journalists' Club compared the situation to the February 26 Incident, in which a group of military officers tried to overthrow the government. Sahashi was not appointed to the role of vice-minister until Fukuda was replaced by Yoshio Sakurauchi the following year. As vice-minister, Sahashi was regarded as a key influence on Japan's

post-war economic boom A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, w ...

. Three novels about this era feature him as the protagonist, casting him in a similar role to that of the heroic feudal

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

defending the people. One, ''Kanryo-tachi no Natsu'' (''The Summer of the Bureaucrats'') by Saburo Shiyoyama, was later made into a television series.

Later life

Sahashi was a practitioner of

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

, and in 1972 wrote the book ''Shin no budō'' (''The True Way of the Warrior''), which was a diatribe against the increased emphasis on sport within the martial arts. He believed that the true purpose of martial arts was to achieve enlightenment (satori) through training.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahashi, Shigeru Japanese aikidoka Japanese politicians People from Gifu Prefecture 1913 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Japanese economists University of Tokyo alumni Politicians from Gifu Prefecture