, was a businessman, politician and cabinet minister in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, serving 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 ...

six times, and twice as a cabinet minister.

Biography

Hara was born in

Ayabe city is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 31,082 in 13660 households and a population density of 90 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Ayabe is situated in the mountains of N ...

, Kyoto Prefecture, and was trained as a lawyer, graduating from the predecessor of Chuo University. In 1896, he moved to Hsinchu,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, where he worked as a judge for the new Japanese colonial government. In June 1901, he became head of the legal association of Tainan Prefecture, and in November 1901 was also made an assistant police commissioner under the Governor-General of Taiwan’s office in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...

. Hara resigned in December 1904 to start his own

sugar refining Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

business. In December 1906, he was active in promoting the economic development of Taiwan’s east coast, becoming president of a joint venture company in August 1910 sponsoring immigration of Japanese settlers to Hualien County and a director of the company building Hualien Port, and the present of a company to supply electricity to the area. Hara was first elected to the Lower House as a representative from his wife’s home prefecture of Ibaraki in the 1912 General Election. He was subsequently reelected five times. On April 14, 1931, Hara was picked to be Minister of Colonial Affairs under the Wakatsuki administration. On September 10, 1931, he traded that portfolio for that of Railway Minister, which he held to December 13, 1931. He subsequently served as a senior leader of 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 ...

'' political party. Hara died at age 63, and his grave is at the Tama Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo.Tama Reien site
/ref> A bronze bust of Hara is located in the Kameshiro Park in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki. He is the maternal grandfather of

Mitsuko Uchida is a classical pianist and conductor, born in Japan and naturalised in Britain, particularly noted for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. She has appeared with many notable orchestras, recorded a wide repertory with several labels, w ...

References

* Rengō Puresu Sha, ''The Japan biographical encyclopedia & who's who, Issue 3'' Japan Biographical Research Dept., Rengo Press, Ltd., 1964. page 237 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hara, Shujiro 1871 births 1934 deaths People from Kyoto Prefecture Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Government ministers of Japan Chuo University alumni Rikken Minseitō politicians Politicians from Kyoto Prefecture