was an

internationalist Internationalist may refer to: * Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders * Liberal internationalism, a doctrine in international relations * Internationalist/Defencist Schism, socialists opposed to ...

. He was founder of the International House of Japan and a pioneer in building constructive relations between Japanese and others through shared knowledge of their diverse histories, needs and national aspirations. He was an influential journalist and an active participant in the internationalization of Japan in the latter part of the twentieth century. He was awarded the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

in 1980.

Early life

Matsumoto was brought up in

Osaka, Japan is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third most populous city in Ja ...

. He studied law and English at

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

before going to the United States in 1923 to study economics and history at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He went on to Europe in 1925, where he interpreted for Japanese delegates at an

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

conference in 1926. His ambition of becoming a professional journalist was fulfilled when he was appointed as the head of the Shanghai bureau of the Rengo (later

Domei Tsushin Domei is the name of: * Dōmei Tsushin, former news agency in the Empire of Japan * Japanese Confederation of Labour The Japanese Confederation of Labour (Domei; ja, 全日本労働総同盟) was a national trade union federation in Japan. The f ...

) news agency.

Journalism

In 1936 his report of the

Xi'an incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang Hs ...

was his first real reporting experience. In 1939, Matsumoto became editor in chief of Domei. He held this post until he fell ill in 1943.

Personal

Matsumoto was the widower of Hanako Matsutaka. Surviving are two sons, Hiroshi and Ken, and a daughter, Misao Maki, all of Tokyo.

References

Japanese journalists 1899 births 1989 deaths 20th-century journalists {{Japan-journalist-stub