Shimada Saburō

Shimada Saburō

Shimada Saburō ( Japanese 島 田 三郎 ; * December 12, 1852 in Edo ; † November 14, 1923 ) was a Japanese journalist and politician during the Meiji and Taisho periods .

life and work

Shimada Saburō was a samurai from Shizuoka Prefecture . He studied at the Bakufu School and the Numazu Military Academy. - After the Meiji Restoration , in 1874 he was the editor of the newspaper “Yokohama Manichi Shimbun” (横 浜 毎 日 新聞), the later “Tōkyō Mainichi Shimbun”, of which he ultimately became president.

Shimada raised his voice in the People's Law Movement, and after an interlude in the administration that ended with the political crisis of 1881, he joined the Rikken Kaishinto (立憲 改進 党) party. Shimada was re-elected 13 times in succession from 1890, when the new constitution and elected parliament came into force. He was a gifted speaker, worked with the parties Shimpotō (進 歩 党), Kensei Hontō (憲政 本 党), Rikken Dōshikai (立憲 同志 会) and Kenseikai (憲政 会), whereby he stayed away from the main party directions.

Through his journalistic work, his books and his parliamentary work, he became known as a fighter for social justice, for universal suffrage, against prostitution and against environmental pollution, as demonstrated at the Ashio copper mine . He was against any corruption in politics and vehemently supported the lawsuit against Hoshi Toru in connection with the Siemens scandal .

Remarks

1. ↑ The political crisis of 1881 ( 明治 １４ 年 の 政 変 , Meiji 14-nen no seihen ) arose when Itō Hirobumi and Ōkuma could not agree on the timing of an elected legislature.

Works (selection)

• Shimada Saburō: Kaikoku shimatsu: Ii Kamon no Kami Naosuke den (開國 始末: 井 伊 掃 部頭 直 弼 傳.) Yoronsha (輿論 社), Tokyo 1888.
• Shimada Saburō: Jōyaku kaiseiron (条約 改正 論), Hakubundō (博 文 堂), 1889

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Shimada Saburō  - 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, Shimada is the family name, Saburō the first name.