Yamagata aritomo biography of christopher jackson
Yamagata Aritomo
Japanese military commander and prime minister (–)
In this Japanese name, the surname is Yamagata.
PrinceYamagata Aritomo (山縣 有朋, 14 June – 1 February ) was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from to , and from to He was a leading member of the genrō, a group of senior statesmen who dominated politics during the Meiji era.
As the Imperial Japanese Army's inaugural Chief of Staff, he was the chief architect of the Empire of Japan's military and its reactionary ideology;[1] some historians consider him the "father" of Japanese militarism.[2]
Yamagata was born in the Chōshū Domain to a low-ranking samurai family, and after the opening of Japan in became active in the movement to overthrow the shogunate.
As a member of the new government after the Meiji Restoration of , he went overseas to study military systems, and from headed the Army Ministry. Yamagata was instrumental in drafting the Conscription Ordinance of and quelling the Satsuma Rebellion of He also was involved in the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors of and the Imperial Rescript on Education of In , he enacted a law permitting only generals and admirals on active duty to hold a cabinet post as army or navy minister, which gave the military control over the formation of future cabinets.
Yamagata held senior military positions in the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, achieving the rank of field marshal (Gensui) and later the title of prince in From , he vied against Itō Hirobumi for influence over national policy. After Ito's assassination in , Yamagata emerged as the most powerful genrō[3][4][5] until a political scandal related to his meddling in Crown Prince Hirohito's engagement resulted in him losing power shortly before his death in [4]
Early career
Yamagata Tatsunosuke was born on 14 June , in Kawashima, Abu, below Hagi Castle (present-day Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture), the eldest son of samurai foot soldier (ashigaru) Yamagata Aritoshi.
His father was a low-ranking samurai who carried weaponry during wartime and was a petty official at the town magistrate office (machi-bugyō-sho) during peacetime. Yamagata's mother died when he was 4 years old, and he was raised by his strict grandmother. Although Aritoshi was a petty town magistrate official, he studied kokugaku, wrote poetry, and excelled in academics.
Yamagata was taught academics by his father Aritoshi. He had his coming of age ceremony (genpuku) at age 15, and started off as a petty official at the Chōshū Domain and then at the Meirinkan. Later, he served the territorial magistrate (daikan), going from village to village learning general duties of a samurai official.[8] His childhood name was Tatsunosuke, after which he was briefly known as Kosuke and Kyōsuke, before changing his name to Aritomo after the Meiji Restoration.[9]
He went to Shokasonjuku, a private school run by Yoshida Shōin, where he was active in the growing underground movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate.
He was a commander in the Kiheitai, a paramilitary organization created on semi-western lines by the Chōshū domain. During the Boshin War, the revolution of and often called the Meiji Restoration, he was a staff officer.
Yamagata aritomo biography of christopher cross
He served as Minister of War and Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army on many occasions, and he was responsible for the modernization of the Japanese military in the style of Prussia ; he is also called "the father of Japanese militarism". In , Aritomo was appointed Minister of War, and he advocated a form of Japanese nationalism and militarism based on Prussia. Aritomo was influenced by Prussia's belief in having a strong government at home and a strong army to fight for expansion, and he introduced the practice of conscription to the Imperial Japanese Army. In , Aritomo led the modernized Imperial Japanese Army in the quelling of the Satsuma Rebellion , and the head of his former comrade-turned-rebel leader Saigo Takamori was brought to him. Aritomo was seen as the father of Japanese militarism, and he died in at the age ofAfter the defeat of the Tokugawa, Yamagata together with Saigō Tsugumichi was selected by the leaders of the new government to go to Europe in to research European military systems. Yamagata like many Japanese was strongly influenced by the striking success of Prussia in transforming itself from an agricultural state to a leading industrial and military power.
He accepted Prussian political ideas, which favored military expansion abroad and authoritarian government at home. On returning he was asked to organize a national army for Japan, and he became War Minister in Yamagata energetically modernized the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army, and modeled it after the Prussian Army. He began a system of military conscription in [10][page&#;needed]
Military career
As War Minister, Yamagata pushed through the foundation of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, which was the main source of Yamagata's political power and that of other military officers through the end of World War I.
He was Chief of the Army General Staff in –, –85 and –
Yamagata in led the newly modernized Imperial Army against the Satsuma Rebellion led by his former comrade in revolution, Saigō Takamori of Satsuma. At the end of the war, when Saigo's severed head was brought to Yamagata, he ordered it washed, and held the head in his arms as he pronounced a meditation on the fallen hero.
He also prompted Emperor Meiji to write the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, in This document was considered the moral core of the Japanese Army and Naval forces until their dissolution in
Yamagata was awarded the rank of field marshal in Throughout his long career, he amassed extensive leadership experience managing battlefield strategy and other military-related issues as the acting War Minister and Commanding General during the First Sino-Japanese War; the Commanding General of the Japanese First Army during the Russo-Japanese War; and as the Chief of the General Staff Office in Tokyo.
Additionally, he was the founding father of Japan's Hokushin-ron policy due to his central role in drawing up a preliminary national defensive strategy against Russia following the Russo-Japanese War.[10][page&#;needed]
Political career
Yamagata was one of seven elite political figures, later called the genrō, who came to dominate the government of Japan.
The word can be translated as principal elders or senior statesmen. The genrō were a subset of the revolutionary leaders who shared common objectives and who by about had forced out or isolated the other original leaders. These seven men (plus two who were chosen later after some of the first seven had died) led Japan for many years, through its great transformation from an agricultural country into a modern military and industrial state.
All the genrō served at various times as cabinet ministers, and most were at times prime minister. As a body, the genrō had no official status, they were simply trusted advisers to the Emperor. Yet the genrō collectively made the most important decisions, such as peace and war and foreign policy, and when a cabinet resigned they chose the new prime minister.
In the twentieth century their power diminished because of deaths and quarrels among themselves, and the growing political power of the Army and Navy. But the genrō clung to the power of naming prime ministers up to the death of the last genrō, PrinceSaionji in
Yamagata also held a large and devoted power base among officers in the army and militarists in Japanese society.
He profoundly distrusted all democratic institutions, and constantly strove to undercut their influence as a member of the genrō. Likewise, he devoted the later part of his life defending the privileges of the Restoration regime's institutions, especially those held by the army.[10][page&#;needed]
During his long and versatile career, Yamagata held numerous important governmental posts.
In , he became president of the Board of Legislation (Sanjiin) and as Home Minister (–87) he worked vigorously to suppress political parties and repress agitation in the labor and agrarian movements. He also organized a system of local administration, based on a prefecture-county-city structure which is still in use in Japan today.
In Yamagata was appointed to the post of Lord Chancellor, the highest bureaucratic position in the government system before the Meiji Constitution of
After the creation of the Cabinet of Japan, Yamagata became the third Prime Minister of Japan. During his first term from December 24, , to May 6, , he became the first prime minister compelled to share power with a partially-elected Imperial Diet under the Meiji Constitution which took effect in On October 30, , he presided over the enactment of the Imperial Rescript on Education.
Yamagata aritomo biography of christopher brown He was born in a family of the chugen rank a rank below that of the common soldier of the domain of Choshu. Although his original class was as low as that of a footman, participation in Kihei-tai, an unconventional battalion led by Shinsaku TAKASUGI , gave him an opportunity to succeed It is believed that he wouldn't have been able to succeed if he, as one from a chugen family, had been born in a different domain. In the domain of Satsuma, Saigo, Okubo and other battalion members were given samurai status even though they were from the lower classes. His childhood name was Shinnosuke and his nickname was Kosuke, but later he changed his name to Kyosuke. After the Meiji Restoration , he gave himself the official name Aritomo.In order to pass a budget for the fiscal year (beginning in April), he had to negotiate with a liberal majority in the House of Representatives, the elected lower house of the Diet. Yamagata became prime minister for a second term from November 8, , to October 19, In , while in his second term as prime minister, he ruled that only an active military officer could serve as War Minister or Navy Minister, a rule that gave the military control over the formation of any future cabinet.
He also enacted laws preventing political party members from holding any key posts in the bureaucracy.
In addition to his service as prime minister, Yamagata obtained considerable experience traveling abroad as a diplomat. Attending the coronation of the Russian Czar Nicholas II on November 1, , he made a tentative offer to Spain on buying the Philippines for £40 million.[11] Likewise, in , he led a diplomatic mission to Moscow, which produced the Yamagata–Lobanov Agreement confirming Japanese and Russian rights in Korea.
Yamagata also served as President of the Privy Council from to and to While serving his second term as president in , he was elevated to the peerage and received the title of koshaku (prince) under the Japanese kazoku system.
From to , Yamagata opposed Itō Hirobumi, leader of the civilian party, and exercised influence through his protégé, Katsura Tarō.[12] After the assassination of Itō Hirobumi in , Yamagata became the most influential statesman in Japan and remained so until his death in ,[13] although he retired from active participation in politics after the Russo-Japanese War.
As president of the Privy Council from to , Yamagata remained the power behind the government and dictated the selection of future prime ministers until his death.[13]
In Yamagata set the precedent that the army could dismiss a cabinet. A dispute with Prime Minister MarquisSaionji Kinmochi over the military budget became a constitutional crisis, known as the Taisho Crisis after the newly enthroned Emperor.
Yamagata aritomo biography of christopher columbus A general and a member of the Japanese oligarchy, he is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of Meiji era Japan. Following the death of Ito Hirobumi , Yamagata was unquestionably the most powerful man in Japan from until his death in Sent to Europe in by the government to research European military systems. Yamagata was strongly influenced by Prussian military and political ideas, which favored military expansion abroad and authoritarian government at home. He was instrumental in building a modern Japanese army and instituting a system of conscription, and in organizing the police force and a system of local government.The army minister, General Uehara Yūsaku, resigned when the cabinet would not grant him the budget he wanted. Saionji sought to replace him. Japanese law required that the ministers of the army and navy must be high-ranking generals and admirals on active duty (not retired). In this instance all the eligible generals at Yamagata's instigation refused to serve in the Saionji cabinet, and the cabinet was compelled to resign.
However, his power was greatly damaged in when he expressed strong opposition to the engagement of Hirohito and Nagako citing color blindness of Nagako's family. The Imperial family struggled against the pressure from Yamagata and the couple eventually managed to get married.
Yamagata died on 1 February and he was given a state funeral.
Personal life and hobbies
Yamagata was a talented garden designer, and today the gardens he designed are considered masterpieces of Japanese gardens. A noted example is the garden of the villa Murin-an in Kyoto.[14]
As Yamagata had no heir, in he adopted a nephew Katsu Isaburō, the second son of his eldest sister, to be his heir.
Yamagata Isaburō subsequently assisted his adopted father by serving as a career bureaucrat, cabinet minister, and head of the civilian administration of Korea.[15]
In April at the age of 29, Yamagata married the 16 year-old Tomoko, a daughter of the headman of the Chōshū Domain before his departure to Kyoto.
Yamagata returned back to the Domain in July to hold a wedding ceremony. They had seven children, all except his second daughter Matsuko (born August ) had died young.
After his wife Tomoko's death in , Yamagata took in a geisha named Yoshida Sadako as his de facto wife; her name was never registered onto the Yamagata family registry.
Awards
Japanese
Peerages in the Kazoku and other titles
Decorations
Order of precedence
- Fifth Rank, August
- Fourth Rank, December
- Third Rank, December
- Second Rank, October
- Senior Second Rank, 20 December
- Junior First Rank, 1 February (posthumous)
Foreign
- &#;German Empire:
- &#;Kingdom of Portugal: Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 25 August
- &#;Kingdom of Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, 30 October
- Austria-Hungary: Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, 1st Class, 22 November
- &#;France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 7 May
- &#;United Kingdom:
- &#;Russian Empire: Knight of the Order of St.
Alexander Nevsky, 14 January
Notes
- ^Norman, E. Herbert (). "Soldier and Peasant in Japan: The Origins of Conscription (Part II)". Pacific Affairs. 16 (2): doi/ JSTOR&#; &#; via JSTOR.
- ^Roger F. Hackett, Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan – ().
- ^Hein, Patrick ().
How the Japanese Became Foreign to Themselves: The Impact of Globalization on the Private and Public Spheres in Japan. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
- ^ abPerez, Louis G. (). The History of Japan. Greenwood,CT: Greenwood Press.
p.&#; ISBN&#;.
- ^Samuels, Richard J. (). Machiavelli's Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UniversityPress.
Yamagata aritomo biography of christopher powell: Prince Yamagata Aritomo (山縣 有朋, 14 June – 1 February ) was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from to , and from to He was a leading member of the genrō, a group of senior statesmen who dominated politics during the Meiji era.
p.&#; ISBN&#;.
- ^Itō, Yukio; 伊藤之雄 (). Yamagata Aritomo&#;: guchoku na kenryokusha no shōgai. Bungei Shunjū. pp.&#;11, 20– ISBN&#;. OCLC&#;
- ^Nihon dai hyakka zensho. Shōgakkan.Yamagata aritomo biography of christopher Aritomo Yamagata was a Japanese general and a member of the oligarchy which dominated Meiji Japan. He was instrumental in building a modern army, strengthening the power of the civil and military bureaucracy, and checking the development of popular influences on the government. Aritomo Yamagata was born the son of a low-ranking samurai family on April 22, , in Hagi, the castle town of Choshu domain. Like Hirobumi Ito Yamagata studied at the private academy of Shoin Yoshida, who advocated revolt against unworthy rulers and severely criticized the shogunate's weak response to the Western nations. Not surprisingly, Yamagata became an active participant in the imperial loyalist movement in Choshu.
山県有朋. ISBN&#;. OCLC&#;
- ^ abcHackett, Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan – ().
- ^Ocampo, Ambeth (). Looking Back. Anvil Publishing. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
- ^Kowner, Rotem (April 6, ).
Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
- ^ abSamuels, Richard J. (). Machiavelli's Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
p.&#; ISBN&#;.
- ^[1]Archived March 22, , at the Wayback Machine and [2]Archived February 29, , at the Wayback Machine links on Yamagata's gardening talent
- ^Biography of Yamagata Isaburo at the National Diet Library