of 1915 was one of several spectacular

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, unethic ...

s of late Meiji and Taishō periods in Japanese history. After the entry of Japan into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the administration of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, and ...

had to report to the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

that expenditures had greatly exceeded projections, and furthermore had to put forth a request by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

for an increase in funding to support an additional 86,000 men – a request which had previously led to the collapse of the Saionji administration. As the majority of the lower house controlled by opposition parties hostile to Ōkuma, the request for additional funds failed and Ōkuma dissolved the house, calling a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

on March 25, 1915. In the campaigning during the Japanese election of 1915, Ōkuma avoided any mention of increased funding for the military, but stressed his foreign policy achievements in China (such as the

Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands ( ja, 対華21ヶ条要求, Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū; ) was a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the government of the Republic of China on 18 ...

) and elsewhere, as opposed to the opposition ''

Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the ''Seiyūkai''. Founded on September 15, 1900, by Itō Hirobumi,David S. Spencer, "Some Thoughts on the Political Development of the Japane ...

'' party, tainted by its recent involvement in the Imperial Navy’s

Siemens scandal of January 1914 involved collusion between several high-ranking members of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the British company Vickers, and the German industrial conglomerate of Siemens AG. It was one of several spectacular political scandals of la ...

. The result of the election was a landslide for Ōkuma, with the opposition ''Seiyūkai'' losing over ninety seats. Although Ōkuma did not obtain an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

, he was able to pass his bills on military spending and China policy without difficulty. However, a couple of months after the election, charges began to surface that

Ōura Kanetake was a politician and bureaucrat in late Meiji and early Taishō period Empire of Japan. In 1907, he was raised to the rank and title of ''danshaku'' (baron) under the ''kazoku'' peerage system. Early life The Ōura family was hereditary ...

, the

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

, had given funds from the ''

Rikken Dōshikai The Rikken-Dōshi Kai ( ja, 立憲同志会, , Association of Comrades of the Constitution) was a political party active in the Empire of Japan in the early years of the 20th century. It was also known as simply the Dōshikai. Founded by Prime Mi ...

'' party to Hayashida Kametarō, the Chief Secretary of the lower house, to distribute to undecided members in order influence the outcome of Ōkuma’s military spending bill. Hayashida resigned, was arrested, and was sent to prison. On July 29, 1915, Ōura was also forced to resign, but was not indicted. Ōkuma's cabinet lost popular support, and its members held mass resignation in October 1915. In 1916, after a long argument with the ''

genrō was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras in Japanese history. The institution of ''genrō' ...

'', Ōkuma resigned as well, and retired from politics permanently.

References

*Hornbeck, Stanley. Contemporary Politics in the Far East, Appleton & Company (1916). ASIN: B000XIME30 * Idditti, Smimasa. ''Life of Marquis Shigenobu Okuma: A Maker of New Japan''. Kegan Paul International Ltd. (2006). * Idditti, Junesay. ''Marquis Shigenobu Okuma - A Biographical Study in the Rise of Democratic Japan''. Hokuseido Press (1956). ASIN: B000IPQ4VQ * Lebra-Chapman, Joyce. ''Okuma Shigenobu: statesman of Meiji Japan''. Australian National University Press (1973). * Oka Yoshitake, et al. ''Five Political Leaders of Modern Japan: Ito Hirobumi, Okuma Shigenobu, Hara Takashi, Inukai Tsuyoshi, and Saionji Kimmochi''. University of Tokyo Press (1984). {{DEFAULTSORT:Oura Scandal 1914 in Japan Politics of the Empire of Japan Political scandals in Japan Corruption in Japan