was a Japanese monthly magazine which focused on

public speaking Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

. It was in circulation in Tokyo between 1910 and 1941 and gained popularity among different sectors of the Japanese society.

History and profile

''Yūben'' was launched by

Seiji Noma was a Japanese writer and publisher who was the founder of Kodansha, a leading publishing company. He was the founder and publisher of many well-known newspapers and magazines. Early life and education Noma was born in 1878. His father hailed f ...

in 1910 as a monthly magazine, and the first issue appeared in February that year. Noma was also the founder of the publishing house

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

which was first named Dainihon Yūbenkai (Japanese: the Great Japanese Oratorical Society). ''Yūben'' was the first magazine started by the company. The goal of ''Yūben'' was to improve the self-expression ability of young people which was considered to be significant for democracy. Therefore, the magazine provided scholarly and popular articles about oratory and published the texts of the speeches by

orators Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

who included

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. ''Yūben'' also featured articles in regard to the historical significance of public speaking and its impacts on the modernization of Japan. These articles were both instructive and entertaining. It was very popular among intellectuals, politicians, and university student and read by nearly all politicians of the period. The first issue of the magazine was edited by the academics from

Tokyo Imperial 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 ...

. The contributors of the following issues were individuals from various public and private institutions. In the period between 1930 and 1935 the magazine organized 14 comprehensive debates where university students publicly discussed the common problematic political topics of the period, including

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and international marriage. ''Yūben'' folded in 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuben 1910 establishments in Japan 1941 disestablishments in Japan Defunct magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1910 Magazines disestablished in 1941 Magazines published in Tokyo Monthly magazines published in Japan Professional and trade magazines Kodansha magazines