Gotō Shōjirō

Gotō Shōjirō

Grave from the Aoyama cemetery

Gotō Shōjirō ( Japanese 後 藤 象 二郎 ; born April 13, 1838 in the province of Tosa ; died August 4, 1897 ) was a Japanese politician of the Meiji period .

Live and act

Gotō Shōjirō, son of a samurai , studied at the Kaiseijo ( 開 成 所 ), the educational establishment of the shogunate, and then played an important role in the government of Tosa-han . Influenced by Sakamoto Ryōma , he became a leading advocate for the peaceful restoration of imperial power.

In 1868 Gotō entered the new government and worked in the Foreign Office, for the strengthening of industry and then as governor of Osaka until he became a member of the Genrōin . But he resigned in connection with the discussion about an invasion of Korea ( 征 韓 論 , Seikanron ) in 1873.

For the rest of his life Gotō was interested in Korean affairs. He participated in the founding of the Patriotic Party ( 愛国 公 党 , Aikoku Kōtō ) and campaigned for an elected constituent Reichstag.

After the Osaka Conference in 1875, he returned to government for a short time. He then headed the coal mines of Takashima on Kyūshū for some time , but could not make any profits and finally sold his stake in Iwasaki Yatarō . In 1881 Gotō became a founding member of the Liberal Party ( 自由 党 , Jiyūtō ), but the following year the government persuaded him to travel abroad with Itagaki Taisuke .

In 1887 he became a founding member of the anti-government Daidō-Danketsu movement, but was persuaded to give up and from 1889 to 1892 to serve as Minister of Communications in the government. In 1892 he became Minister of Agriculture and Trade, but resigned in 1894.

Gotō was buried in the Aoyama cemetery.

Remarks

1. ↑ In October 1868 some members of the Jiyūtō began a campaign against their opinion wrong treatment of the contract issue with the West and in 1887 they formed the so-called Daidō-Danketsu movement ( -団 結 運動 ). This movement remained active until the 1890s.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Noma, S. (Ed.): Goto Shojiro. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha.

literature

• Noma, S. (Ed.): Goto Shojiro. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , pp. 608-609.
• Hunter, Janet: Goto Shojiro. In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History., Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .

Web links

Commons : Gotō Shōjirō  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Gotō is the family name, Shōjirō the first name.