Adachi Kenzō, Hamaguchi, Shimada, Baron Kato, Kataoka Naoharu, and Ema Koigumi

was a Japanese entrepreneur and politician during the prewar period. He served as Minister of Commerce and Industry (1924),

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(1927), and a member of the House of Peers (1930-1934).

Biography

Kataoka was born on October 13, 1859 in

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syste ...

(present-day

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

). He served as an official in the police department of

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

. In 1880, he was transferred to

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 ...

, where he caught the attention of

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samur ...

and was recruited into 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 ...

. However, in 1889, Kataoka was recruited away from a career to accept the post of vice president of

Nippon Life Insurance Company , also known as or is the largest Japanese life insurance company by revenue. The company was founded in 1889 as the ''Nippon Life Assurance Co., Inc.'' In structure it is a mutual company. It first paid policyholder dividends in 1898. Over ...

, and subsequently served as president of the company from 1903–1919. He was also president of the Miyako Hotels chain from 1915, and served as a member of the board for the Kyōdō Bank and Kansai Railways. Kataoka returned to political life as a member of 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 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 ...

in the 1892 General Election, and was subsequently re-elected eight times. A political ally of

Katsura Tarō Prince was a Japanese politician and general of the Imperial Japanese Army who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1901 to 1906, from 1908 to 1911, and from 1912 to 1913. Katsura was a distinguished general of the First Sino-Japanese W ...

, he joined Katsura’s

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 ...

political party in 1913 and subsequently served as a senior official in the

Kenseikai The was a short-lived political party in the pre-war Empire of Japan. History The ''Kenseikai'' was founded on 10 October 1916, as a merger of the ''Rikken Dōshikai'' (led by Katō Takaaki), '' Chūseikai'' (led by Ozaki Yukio) and the '' K ...

. As a politician, he was sympathetic to labor relations issues, advocating a government-run worker’s insurance plan and an easing of police restrictions on labor protests. Kataoka joined the cabinet during the 2nd 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 ...

Katō Takaaki Count was a Japanese politician, diplomat, and Prime Minister of Japan from 1924 until his death on 28 January 1926, during the period which historians have called " Taishō Democracy". He was also known as Katō Kōmei. Early life Katō, w ...

as Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1924. He later served as

under the 1st cabinet of

Wakatsuki Reijirō Baron was a Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan. Early life Wakatsuki Reijirō was born on 21 March 1866, in Matsue, Izumo Province (present day Shimane Prefecture), the second son of samurai foot soldier (''ashigaru'') Okumura Se ...

in 1927. However, his public proclamation during budgetary deliberations on March 14, 1927 that the Tokyo Watanabe Bank had gone bankrupt, when in fact it had not, resulted a

bank run A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may cease to function in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks no ...

and was one of the main factors behind the

Shōwa financial crisis The was a financial panic in 1927, during the first year of the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and was a foretaste of the Great Depression. It brought down the government of Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō and led to the domination of ...

and the collapse of the Wakatsuki administration. Kataoka was awarded with a seat in the House of Peers from 1930. He died on May 21, 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kataoka, Naoharu 1859 births 1934 deaths People from Tosa Domain Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Ministers of Finance of Japan Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Rikken Dōshikai politicians Kenseikai politicians Nippon Life