Numa Morikazu

Numa Morikazu

Numa Morikazu ( Japanese 沼 間 守 一 ; born January 21, 1844 in Edo ; died May 17, 1890 ) was a Japanese politician and journalist during the Meiji period .

life and work

Numa Morikazu, son of a samurai , studied Chinese classics and Western knowledge in Edo, Yokohama and Nagasaki. In 1865 he began training at the Bakufu Military School , for which he then fought in the Boshin War . But he was also close to some members of the new government, studied law in England from 1872 to 1873 and then worked in the finance and justice ministries, including the Genrōin as a judge.

With the same age Kono Togama (1844-1895) he organized a group that studied law and dealt with freedom of expression. This group called itself from 1877 "Ōmeisha". - Numa left ministries in 1879 when officials were banned from political discussions and became an active campaigner for civil rights. He campaigned for lower taxes, the promulgation of a constitution and the establishment of a Reichstag.

Numa became president of the newspaper "Tōkyō Yokohama Mainichi". He was in contact with the Jiyūtō party , but he was closer to the founders of the Rikken Kaishintō party , within which the Ōmeisha became an important element. He was a leading figure in the party even after Ōkuma resigned. From 1879 to 1890 Numa was a member of the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly.

Remarks

1. ↑ Ōmeisha (嚶 鳴 社), a poetic name: "Group of those who chirp in harmony with one another."

literature

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

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