was a bureaucrat and cabinet minister in early

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Biography

Kawarada was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

as Kakichi Okumura, the son of a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

from

Mimasaka Province or was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today northeastern Okayama Prefecture. Mimasaka bordered Bitchū, Bizen, Harima, Hōki, and Inaba Provinces. Mimasaka was landlocked, and was often ruled by the ''daimyō'' in Bizen. ...

. He was adopted by Kawarada Moriharu, originally from

Aizu Domain was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Tsuruga Castle in Mutsu Province, the core of the ...

and later an official in the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

and expert in

fisheries science Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of limnology, oceanography, freshwater biology, marine biology, meteorology, conservation, eco ...

who was later an aide to the

Konoe family is a Japanese aristocratic family.Edmund Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Konoe," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 24 retrieved 2013-8-13. The family is a branc ...

. After his graduation in 1909 from the law school of

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

with a major in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

, Kakichi Kawarada entered the

Home Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. He rose rapidly within the ministry, serving as Bureau Director for Social Welfare, and Bureau Director for Labor Affairs. He subsequently served as General-Secretary to the

Governor-General of Taiwan The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945. The Jap ...

, and Director of the Transportation Ministry of the Governor-General of Taiwan. Under the Inukai administration, he was Cabinet Under-Secretary. It was around this time that he became affiliated with the ''

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 ...

'' political party, although he was also very close to

Fumimaro Konoe Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...

due to his family ties. In 1937, Kawarada was appointed Home Minister in the Hayashi administration at the urging of Konoe. From January 1938 until May 1946, he served in the House of Peers . In 1939, Kawarada was selected as Education Minister under the Abe Noriyuki administration. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1943-1945, Kawarada served as Governor of Osaka Prefecture. He was also chairman of the National Health Insurance Fund Association. After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, he was (along with all other members of the wartime government),

purged In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

by orders of the American occupation authorities. However, in the 1952 General Election, he was elected to the post-war

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 of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

under the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

ticket from the Fukushima 2nd Electoral District. He was re-elected in the 1953 General Election, but died while in office. His grave is at the Buddhist temple of Tennō-ji, in Taitō, Tokyo.

References

* Garon, Sheldon. ''The State and Labor In Modern Japan''. University of California Press (2004). * Hunter, Janet. '' A Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History ''. University of California Press (1994).

External links

Tendai sect, Tokyo home page

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawarada, Kakichi 1886 births 1955 deaths Politicians from Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni Government ministers of Japan Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan Rikken Seiyūkai politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Liberal Party (Japan, 1945) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan)