Viscount was a Japanese bureaucrat, statesman and cabinet minister, active in Meiji period

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

Nomura was born as the second son of a low-ranked '' ashigaru samurai'' in

Hagi Hagi, Hadži, or Hadzhi (Хаджи) is a name derived from hajji, an honorific title given to a Muslim person who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca, which was later adopted by Christian peoples as a word for ''pilgrim''. People Surname ...

Chōshū Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was base ...

, (currently Yamaguchi Prefecture). As a youth, he studied at Yoshida Shōin's ''Shokansonjuku'' academy, where he joined the

Sonnō jōi was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought ...

movement against the Tokugawa shogunate and the increasing foreign presence in Japan. He participated in the unsuccessful assassination attempt against the '' rōjū''

Manabe Akikatsu was the 7th ''daimyō'' of Sabae Domain in Echizen Province under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan.Meyer, Eva Maria. (1999) ''Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit'', p. 146 His courtesy title was ''Shimōsa-no-kami'', and his Court rank ...

and in the burning of the British legation in

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 ...

in 1862. He fought as a member of the Chōshū armies against the Tokugawa during the Second Chōshū expedition. After the Meiji Restoration, he went to Tokyo and entered into service of the new Meiji government, and was selected as a member of the 1871 Iwakura Mission, visiting the United States, Great Britain and other European countries. After his return to Japan, he was appointed governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, where he was praised for his efforts in reducing government spending. He was ennobled with the '' kazoku'' peerage title of ''shishaku'' ( viscount) in 1887. In 1888, he was made a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and in 1891 served as Japanese ambassador to France. Nomura was selected to become Home Minister in the cabinet of the 2nd administration of Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi in 1894. During his tenure, the three Tama districts, formerly part of Kanagawa Prefecture, were annexed to Tokyo Prefecture. Nomura returned to the cabinet as Minister of Communications in 1896 under the 2nd Matsukata administration, during which time he attempted to stem the influence of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, which had been strongly favored by

Maejima Hisoka Baron , born , was a Japanese statesman, politician, and businessman in Meiji-period Japan. Maejima founded the Japanese postal service, and is known as , or "Father of the Postal System". Early life Maejima was born as Ueno Fusagorō, in ...

, over control of Japanese shipping. Nomura died in 1909. His grave is at the Shōin Jinja, a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

in Setagaya, Tokyo, near the grave of Yoshida Shōin.

References

* Keene, Donald. ''Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852–1912''. Columbia University Press (2005). * Fredrick, Louis. ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Harvard University Press (2005). * Sims, Richard. ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000''. Palgrave Macmillan.

External links

Bio at National Diet Library

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nomura, Yasushi 1842 births 1909 deaths Samurai People from Chōshū domain Government ministers of Japan Kazoku People of Meiji-period Japan Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan Ambassadors of Japan to France Governors of Kanagawa Prefecture Members of the Iwakura Mission