Many people don’t know that Seiji Tsutsumi, who strategized and galloped around in the shopping mall and built a huge business kingdom, and Tio Tsujii, who was suave and unique in the literary world and built a colorful literary world, are the two. Same person.
Born in Tokyo in 1927, his father Yasujiro Tsutsumi was a member of Japan's Democratic Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives, and his mother Sou Aoyama was a tanka singer. While studying in the Department of Economics at the University of Tokyo, he came into contact with Marxist theory, and his thoughts and worldview underwent important changes. He was introduced to the Communist Party of Japan by Hiroshi Noma. As a result, a prominent figure in Japanese politics and the son of a wealthy capitalist became the leader of the student movement and a warrior fighting against power. However, during the chaotic student movement, he became ill from overwork and suffered from lung disease and hemoptysis. On his sickbed, he learned that the student movement had been suppressed by the police and bloody incidents occurred. He started writing poetry and published it under the pen name Tsujii Joe. In his short poem "In the Dark," he wrote: Darkness is like raindrops, the sound of footsteps penetrating the endless night. In 1953, when he was 26 years old, his father was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives. He served as his father's secretary and took over the business the following year. From then on, while writing and doing business, he spread his wings, soared into the sky, and made brilliant achievements.
In 1963, he founded the Seiyu Supermarket chain store and served as president; after his father passed away the next year, his younger brother Tsutsumi Yoshiaki inherited the family business, and he was only part of the Fentoku Department Store. In 1966, he served as the president of Seibu Department Store, developing various businesses such as credit cards, restaurants, and insurance. In 1973, he founded Seibu Theater Plaza Culture and built the Seibu Museum of Art. In 1986, he took office as the Takanawa Museum of Art (now Seibu Museum of Art). Chairman of the Museum of Modern Art); founded the Seasons Cultural Foundation and serves as its chairman to this day.
He ran many businesses and achieved great success. During the heyday of Japan's economy in the 1980s, the annual turnover of Seibu Department Store alone ranked first in the world. He combines theory with practice and engages in economic theory research while running business. He has published many economic works such as "Theory of Circulation Industry", "Perspective of Change", "Theory of Circulation Society", "Theory of Life Industry", "Criticism of Consumer Society" and so on. He has written many academic works and taught economic theory at the University of Tokyo, Nagano Shinshu University, Hitotsubashi University, etc.
The honors and degrees he has received include: Chevalier of the Order of Merit of the French Government; Medal of Honor of the First Class by the French Government; Gold Medal of Merit of the Austrian Communist Party; Honorary Doctorate of Moscow State University; Doctor of Economics from Chuo University of Japan .
He writes poetry, novels, essays, and reviews, and his award-winning works include: the collection of poems "Foreigners", which won the second Shisheng Rhino Star Poetry Award; the novel "Always the Same Spring", which won the second The 12th Yasuko Hirabayashi Literary Award; the poetry collection "Useless Man" won the 5th Earth Poetry Award; the poetry collection "Ultramarine My Hint" won the 23rd Takamishun Poetry Award; the novel "Cape of the Rainbow" ", won the 30th Junichiro Tanizaki Literary Award; the trilogy of poetry collections "Ultramarine·My Hint", "Nanming·Travel End", "Poseidon·Happy Days", won the 38th Fujimura Memorial Prize The History Award; the novel "The Sinking City" won the first Shinji Literary Award; the novel "Long Life" won the third Kato Ikhu Literary Award; the novel "The Life of the Wind" won the 51st Art Selection Awarded by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology...
Today, he has retired from the business world and specializes in writing. He also serves as the president of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association.
On November 25, 2013, Mr. Tsujii Qiao, president of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association, passed away due to illness.