Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

was a

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 ...

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 ...

, who became

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 ...

in early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

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

Shinagawa was born 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 ...

, in former

(present day

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

). His father was an '' ashigaru'', or lower ranking foot soldier in the service of the

Mōri clan The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power ...

. During the

Bakumatsu period was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji govern ...

, he attended Yoshida Shōin’s Shoka ''Sonjuku'' Academy, and was a fervent supporter of 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. In 1862, together with other pro-''Sonnō jōi'' Chōshū samurai, he was a participant in an attack on 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 ...

. He was also present at the unsuccessful

Hamaguri rebellion The , also known as the , was a rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan that took place on August 20 unar calendar: 19th day, 7th month 1864, near the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. History Starting with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1 ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

in August 1864. During the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, he served as a staff officer in the Imperial armies in various battles against the remnants of

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

forces in the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei in northern Honshū. He is also credited with writing the lyrics of "''Miyasan, Miyasan''" (宮さん宮さん), also known as "''Tonyare-Bushi''", a humorous loyalist song that was popular during the Boshin War. After the establishment of the Meiji government, Shinagawa was sent to France for studies, arriving in Paris in 1870, where he was thus able to experience modern western military technologies and strategy during the Franco-Prussian War firsthand. After his return to Japan, he was appointed Chief Secretary of the Home Ministry, later rising to the post of Junior Vice Home Minister, followed by the position of Senior Vice Agriculture and Commerce Minister. He supported the Agriculture in the Empire of Japan, development of agriculture and forestry through his efforts towards the formation of Credit unions and agricultural cooperatives. He later briefly returned to German Empire, Germany as a diplomat. In 1891, Shinagawa was appointed Home Minister in cabinet of Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Matsukata Masayoshi. 品川弥二Shinagawa Yajiroh

During the tumultuous Japanese 1892 Japanese general election, General Election of 1892, Shinagawa responded to indirect criticism from Emperor Meiji of the failure of the Diet of Japan to reach an agreement on the national budget by accusing opposition political parties of sedition, and using his authority as Home Minister to take Police services of the Empire of Japan, police action to suppress opposition political party activities during the election, and to intimidate candidates and voters. The resulting riots and other public disturbances around Japan led to numerous deaths and injuries, and the election itself was marred by balloting irregularities. Shinagawa came under much public criticism over the course of events, and was forced to resign from his post. After his resignation, together with fellow former Home Minister Saigō Tsugumichi, Shinagawa founded the conservative ''Kokumin Kyōkai'' political party, serving as its vice-president. Shinagawa was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 1st class, posthumously in 1900. A large bronze statue of Shinagawa is located to the left of the main entrance to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

References

External links

National Diet Library Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinagawa, Yajiro People of Meiji-period Japan Mōri retainers Samurai 1900 deaths 1843 births Politicians from Yamaguchi Prefecture Kazoku Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links