Shinagawa Yajirō

Shinagawa Yajirō

Shinagawa Monument in Tokyo

Shinagawa Yajirō ( Japanese 品 川 弥 二郎 ; born November 20, 1843 in Nagato Province (now Yamaguchi Prefecture ); died February 26, 1900 ) was a Japanese politician during the Meiji period .

life and work

Shinagawa Yajirō studied under Yoshida Shōin , one of the leaders and co-founders of the Sonnō-jōi movement. Together with Kido Takayoshi , he brought about the Satsuma-Chōshu alliance directed against the shogunate. With his pronounced xenophobic attitude, he took part in the attack on the English legation in 1862 and took part in the Boshin War .

In 1870 Shinagawa was sent to England and Germany to study agriculture. Back after six years he worked first in the Ministry of the Interior, then from 1881 in the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade. There he founded organizations to promote agriculture and industry. After serving as envoy in Germany in 1886, he was a member of the Council of State from 1888 to 1891 and from 1899 to his death in 1900.

In 1891 he became Minister of the Interior in the Matsukata I cabinet . His organization of physical interference during the February 1892 elections resulted in 25 deaths and nearly 400 injured. However, it was not enough to achieve a conservative majority in the National Assembly; Shinagawa had to resign as Minister of the Interior because of his interference in the elections. Then Shinagawa, together with Saigō Tsugumichi , stood up with all his energy for the Kokumin Kyōkai (, 協会), a nationally oriented party in which many of Yamagata's supporters had come together. He himself remained in close contact with Yamagata until the end of his life.

Remarks

1. ↑ The Satsuma Chōshu Alliance (薩 長 同盟, Satchō Dōmei), an alliance of the domains Satsuma and Nagato acting against the shogunate, came about through the mediation of Sakamoto Ryōma in March 1866. Together with the Tosa domain, it was then possible to overthrow the shogunate in 1868.

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Shinagawa Yajirō  - 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 Shinagawa is the family name, Yajirō the first name.