was a statesman, politician and cabinet minister in
Taishō and 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
Mizuno was 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 ...
in the service of
Akita Domain
was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governed for the whole of its hi ...
, and was born at the Akita Domain’s
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
residence in what is now the
Asakusa
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known as the location of the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as the .
History
The ...
area of
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 ...
. He was a graduate of 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 ...
in 1892, where one of his classmates was future Prime Minister
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 ...
.
Hozumi Nobushige
Baron was a Japanese statesman and jurist of the Meiji period.
Hozumi was born in Uwajima Domain, Iyo Province (present-day Ehime Prefecture) as the second son to a family of ''kokugaku'' scholars. He graduated from the ''Kaisei Gakko'', (the ...
introduced Mizuno to
Shibusawa Eiichi
was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double-en ...
, who offered him a position at his bank: however, Mizuno accepted
Ume Kenjirō
was a legal scholar in Meiji period Japan, and a founder of Hosei University.
Life and career
Ume was born the second son of the domain doctor of Matsue domain, Izumo Province (present-day Shimane Prefecture). He was sent to study French ...
’s offer of an introduction to the
Minister of Agriculture & Commerce and opted for a career as a government bureaucrat instead. In 1894, he changed to 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 ...
, working initially for the Bureau of Mines, and subsequently serving in numerous other roles.
He was one of the Japanese delegates to the
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, which resulted in the promulgation of the initial version of the
Copyright law of Japan consist of two parts: "Author's Rights" and "Neighbouring Rights". As such, "copyright" is a convenient collective term rather than a single concept in Japan. Japan was a party to the original Berne convention in 1899, so its copyright law is in sy ...
in 1899.
By the invitation of
Hara Takashi
was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1918 to 1921.
Hara held several minor ambassadorial roles before rising through the ranks of the Rikken Seiyūkai and being elected to the House of Representatives. Har ...
, Mizuno joined 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 ...
'' and was appointed to the
upper house
An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...
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 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 ...
Terauchi Masatake
Gensui Count Terauchi Masatake ( ja, 寺内 正毅), GCB (5 February 1852 – 3 November 1919), was a Japanese military officer, proconsul and politician. He was a '' Gensui'' (or Marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Prime Minister o ...
, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Home Minister for the first time.
From 1919 to 1922, Mizuno served as Parliamentary Commissioner of the
Governor-General of Korea
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
, a post which was effectively the head of the civilian administration of
Korea under Japanese rule
Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offic ...
. Mizuno was regarded as particularly suited for this role, as he was familiar with the security apparatus for monitoring Korean residents in Japan and had experience in the suppression of civil disturbance due to his term as Home Minister during the
Rice Riots of 1918
The were a series of popular disturbances that erupted throughout Japan from July to September 1918, which brought about the collapse of the Terauchi Masatake administration.
Causes
A precipitous rise in the price of rice caused extreme econom ...
. During his tenure in Korea, he greatly expanded the telephone infrastructure of the country, which had economic as well as security benefits, On December 25, 1920 Mizuno was awarded the Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
.
Mizuno returned to the Cabinet as Home Minister again under the
Katō administration from 1922 to 1923, turning the post over to
Gotō Shinpei
Count was a Medical Doctor with Doctor of Medicine, a Japanese politician and cabinet minister of the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first direc ...
the day after the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...
.
Mizuno is infamous for his role in the
Kantō Massacre
The Kantō Massacre was a mass murder which the Japanese military, police and vigilantes committed against the Korean residents of the Kantō region, as well as socialists, communists, anarchists, and other dissidents, in the immediate afterma ...
. He stoked rumors that Koreans were committing crimes or taking revenge on the Japanese. An indiscriminate massacre of anyone suspected to be Korean followed. Over 6,000 Koreans were killed by Japanese civil militias.
At the end of 1923, after the
Toranomon Incident, he was requested to return to the Cabinet as Home Minister for a third time, under the
Keigo
The Japanese language has a system of honorific speech, referred to as , parts of speech that show respect. Their use is mandatory in many social situations. Honorifics in Japanese may be used to emphasize social distance or disparity in rank, ...
administration.
From 1927 to 1928, Mizuno served as
Minister of Education. As Education Minister, he took steps to purge leftist professors from Japan's
imperial universities
The were founded by the Empire of Japan between 1886 and 1939, seven in Mainland Japan (now Japan), one in Korea under Japanese rule (now the Republic of Korea) and one in Taiwan under Japanese rule (now Taiwan). They were run by the imperial gove ...
and to ban radical leftist student groups.
In 1928, Prime Minister
Tanaka Giichi
Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, politician, cabinet minister, and the Prime Minister of Japan from 1927 to 1929.
Early life and military career
Tanaka was born as the third son of a low-ranking ''samurai'' family in the se ...
attempted to appoint his close friend
Fusanosuke Kuhara
was an entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan.
Biography
Kuhara was born in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture into a family of ''sake'' brewers. His brother was the founder of Nippon Suisan Kaisha and his uncle Fu ...
, a businessman noted for his radical right-wing politics and first-year member of the Diet to the post of Home Minister. Mizuno resigned in protest, which should have brought down Tanaka’s Cabinet. However, Tanaka brought Mizuno a message from Emperor
Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
asking Mizuno to withdraw his resignation. The incident caused an uproar in the House of Peers and threatened to precipitate a
constitutional crisis
In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this d ...
, as this would mean that the Emperor was violating a long-standing rule of not interfering directly in politics and the action was perceived to be favorable to the ''Rikken Seiyūkai'' over their rivals, the ''
Rikken Minseitō
was one of the main political parties in pre-war Empire of Japan. It was commonly known as the ''Minseitō''.
History
The ''Minseitō'' was founded on 1 June 1927, by a merger of the ''Kenseikai'' and the ''Seiyu Hontō'' political parties. I ...
''. Mizuno was forced to resign once again, and Tanaka fell increasingly out of favor with the Emperor; the incident was a major force in driving Tanaka from office in 1929.
[Bix. ''Hirohito''. Page 212]
In his later years, Mizuno served as chairman of the
, and other posts. On 17 April 1938, Mizuno was awarded the
Order of the Paulownia Flowers
The is an order presented by the Japanese government. Established in 1888 during the Meiji Restoration as the highest award in the Order of the Rising Sun; however, since 2003 it has been an Order in its own right. The only grade of the order ...
. At the end of
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 ...
he was arrested by the
Allied occupation forces and held in
Sugamo Prison
Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan.
History
Sugamo Prison was originally built in 1 ...
for Class-A
war criminal charges for his position as honorary vice-chairman of the ''Dai-Nippon Koa Domei'' (Japan Pan-Asian Alliance), a war-time nationalist society, but was released on 1 September 1947 without coming to trial. He died on 25 November 1949 at the age of 81.
Notes
References
*
Bix, Herbert P. ''
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
''Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan'' is a book by Herbert P. Bix covering the reign of Emperor Hirohito of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. It won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General N ...
''. Harper Perennial (2001). .
*Yang, Daqing. ''Technology of Empire: Telecommunications and Japanese Expansion in Asia, 1883-1945''. Harvard University Asia Center (2011)
* Marshall, Bryan. ''Academic Freedom and the Japanese Imperial University, 1868-1939''. University of California Press (1992)
* Weiner, Michael. ''Race and Migration in Japan''. Routledge
* Yamagami Kazuo. '' Konoe Fumimaro And the Failure of Peace in Japan, 1937-1941: A Critical Appraisal Of The Three-time Prime Minister''. Mcfarland & Co Inc (2006). . Page 22
External links
Mizuno Rentaro Museum home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizuno, Rentaro
1868 births
1949 deaths
University of Tokyo alumni
Members of the House of Peers (Japan)
Rikken Seiyūkai politicians
20th-century Japanese politicians
Government ministers of Japan
Education ministers of Japan
Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan
Recipients of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers
Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun