'' Gensui''

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

, also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese military commander, twice-elected

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

, and a leading member of the '' genrō'', an élite group of senior statesmen who dominated Japan after the Meiji Restoration. As the Imperial Japanese Army's inaugural Chief of Staff, he was the chief architect of 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 for ...

's military and its

reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...

ideology. For this reason, some historians consider Yamagata to be the “father” of Japanese militarism. During the latter part of the

Meiji Era 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 b ...

, Yamagata vied against Marquess Itō Hirobumi for control over the nation's policies. After Itō was assassinated in 1909, he became the most powerful figure in Japan save for

the Emperor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

himself. Henceforth, Prince Yamagata oversaw all policymaking within the empire until a falling-out with the Imperial family resulted in him losing power shortly before his death in February 1922.

Early career

Yamagata Tatsunosuke was born on 14 June 1838, in Kawashima, Abu, below

Hagi Castle , also known as Shizuki Castle, was a Japanese castle located in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Hagi Castle was built in 1604 at the beginning of the Edo period as the main castle of the Mōri clan, and served as the seat of the Chōshū Domain fo ...

(present-day

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 ...

, Yamaguchi Prefecture), the eldest son of

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

foot soldier ('' ashigaru'') Yamagata Aritoshi. His father was a low-ranking samurai who carried weaponry during wartime and was a petty official at the town magistrate office ( ''machi-bugyō''''-sho'') during peacetime. Yamagata's mother died when he was 4 years old, and he was raised by his strict grandmother. Although Aritoshi was a petty town magistrate official, he studied '' kokugaku'', wrote poetry, and excelled in academics. Yamagata was taught academics by his father Aritoshi. He had his coming of age ceremony ('' genpuku'') at age 15, and started off as a petty official at the Chōshū Domain and then at the

Meirinkan was a han school located in the Chōshū Domain of Japan. The school was one of the three major educational institutions in Japan, along with the Kōdōkan in Mito Domain and Shizutani School in Okayama Domain. History The school was establis ...

. Later, he served the territorial magistrate ('' daikan''), going from village to village learning general duties of a samurai official. His childhood name was Tatsunosuke, after which he was briefly known as Kosuke and Kyōsuke, before changing his name to Aritomo after the Meiji Restoration. He went to '' Shokasonjuku'', a private school run by Yoshida Shōin, where he was active in the growing underground movement to overthrow the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

. He was a commander in the '' Kiheitai'', a paramilitary organization created on semi-western lines by the Chōshū domain. During the Boshin War, the revolution of 1867 and 1868 often called the Meiji Restoration, he was a staff officer. After the defeat of the Tokugawa, Yamagata together with Saigō Tsugumichi was selected by the leaders of the new government to go to Europe in 1869 to research European military systems. Yamagata like many Japanese was strongly influenced by the striking success of Prussia in transforming itself from an agricultural state to a leading industrial and military power. He accepted Prussian political ideas, which favored military expansion abroad and authoritarian government at home. On returning he was asked to organize a national army for Japan, and he became War Minister in 1873. Yamagata energetically modernized the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army, and modeled it after the Prussian Army. He began a system of military conscription in 1873.Hackett, ''Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan 1838–1922'' (1971).

Military career

As War Minister, Yamagata pushed through the foundation of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, which was the main source of Yamagata's political power and that of other military officers through the end of World War I. He was Chief of the Army General Staff in 1878–1882, 1884–85 and 1904–1905. Yamagata in 1877 led the newly modernized Imperial Army against the Satsuma Rebellion led by his former comrade in revolution, Saigō Takamori of Satsuma. At the end of the war, when Saigo's severed head was brought to Yamagata, he ordered it washed, and held the head in his arms as he pronounced a meditation on the fallen hero. He also prompted

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

to write the '' Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors'', in 1882. This document was considered the moral core of the

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

and Naval forces until their dissolution in 1945. Yamagata was awarded the rank of

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

in 1898. Throughout his long career, he amassed extensive leadership experience managing battlefield strategy and other military-related issues as the acting War Minister and Commanding General during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...

; the Commanding General of the

Japanese First Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army. It was raised and demobilized on three occasions. History The Japanese 1st Army was initially raised during the First Sino-Japanese War from 1 September 1894 – 28 May 1895 under the command ...

during the Russo-Japanese War; and as the Chief of the General Staff Office in Tokyo. Additionally, he was the founding father of Japan's '' Hokushin-ron'' policy due to his central role in drawing up a preliminary national defensive strategy against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

following the Russo-Japanese War.

Political career

Yamagata was one of seven elite political figures, later called the '' genrō'', who came to dominate the government of Japan. The word can be translated principal elders or senior statesmen. The ''genrō'' were a subset of the revolutionary leaders who shared common objectives and who by about 1880 had forced out or isolated the other original leaders. These seven men (plus two who were chosen later after some of the first seven had died) led Japan for many years, through its great transformation from an agricultural country into a modern military and industrial state. All the ''genrō'' served at various times as cabinet ministers, and most were at times prime minister. As a body, the ''genrō'' had no official status, they were simply trusted advisers to the Emperor. Yet the ''genrō'' collectively made the most important decisions, such as peace and war and foreign policy, and when a cabinet resigned they chose the new prime minister. In the twentieth century their power diminished because of deaths and quarrels among themselves, and the growing political power of the Army and Navy. But the ''genrō'' clung to the power of naming prime ministers up to the death of the last ''genrō'',

Saionji in 1940. Prime Minister Aritomo Yamagata

Yamagata also held a large and devoted power base among officers in the army and militarists in Japanese society. He profoundly distrusted all democratic institutions, and constantly strove to undercut their influence as a member of the ''genrō''. Likewise, he devoted the later part of his life defending the privileges of the Restoration regime's institutions, especially those held by the army. During his long and versatile career, Yamagata held numerous important governmental posts. In 1882, he became president of the Board of Legislation (''Sanjiin'') and as Home Minister (1883–87) he worked vigorously to suppress political parties and repress agitation in the labor and agrarian movements. He also organized a system of local administration, based on a prefecture-county-city structure which is still in use in Japan today. In 1883 Yamagata was appointed to the post of Lord Chancellor, the highest bureaucratic position in the government system before the Meiji Constitution of 1889. After the creation of the Cabinet of Japan, Yamagata became the third

. During his first term from December 24, 1889, to May 6, 1891, he became the first prime minister compelled to share power with a partially-elected Imperial Diet under the Meiji Constitution which took effect in 1890. On October 30, 1890, he presided over the enactment of the '' Imperial Rescript on Education''. In order to pass a budget for the fiscal year 1891 (beginning in April), he had to negotiate with a liberal majority in the House of Representatives, the elected lower house of the Diet. Yamagata became Prime Minister for a second term from November 8, 1898, to October 19, 1900. In 1900, while in his second term as Prime Minister, he ruled that only an active military officer could serve as War Minister or Navy Minister, a rule that gave the military control over the formation of any future cabinet. He also enacted laws preventing political party members from holding any key posts in the bureaucracy. In addition to his service as Prime Minister, Yamagata obtained considerable experience traveling abroad as a diplomat. Attending the coronation of the Russian Czar

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

on November 1, 1894, he made a tentative offer to Spain on buying the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

for £40 million. Likewise, in 1896, he led a diplomatic mission to Moscow, which produced the

Yamagata–Lobanov Agreement The (russian: Протокол Лобанова — Ямагаты), signed in Saint Petersburg on 9 June 1896, was the second of three agreements signed between the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Russia concerning disputes regarding their spher ...

confirming Japanese and Russian rights in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

Yamagata also served as President of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advice (constitutional), advises the head of state of a State (polity), state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchy, monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a pr ...

from 1893 to 1894 and 1905 to 1922. While serving his second term as president in 1907, he was elevated to the peerage and received the title of ''koshaku'' (prince) under the Japanese '' kazoku'' system. From 1900 to 1909, Yamagata opposed Itō Hirobumi, leader of the civilian party, and exercised influence through his protégé, Katsura Tarō. After the assassination of Itō Hirobumi in 1909, Yamagata became the most influential statesman in Japan and remained so until his death in 1922, although he retired from active participation in politics after the Russo-Japanese War. As president of the Privy Council from 1909 to 1922, Yamagata remained the power behind the government and dictated the selection of future Prime Ministers until his death. However, his power was greatly damaged in 1921 when he expressed strong opposition to the engagement of

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 ...

and

Nagako Nagako is an uncommon Japanese given name for females. Although written romanized the same way, the kanji can be different. Notable people with the name include: *, later Empress Kōjun of Japan (香淳皇后) * Nagako Konishi (born 1945), a fema ...

citing color blindness of Nagako's family. The Imperial family struggled against the pressure from Yamagata and the couple eventually managed to get married. In 1912 Yamagata set the precedent that the army could dismiss a cabinet. A dispute with Prime Minister

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Saionji Kinmochi over the military budget became a constitutional crisis, known as the Taisho Crisis after the newly enthroned Emperor. The army minister, General Uehara Yūsaku, resigned when the cabinet would not grant him the budget he wanted. Saionji sought to replace him. Japanese law required that the ministers of the army and navy must be high-ranking generals and admirals on active duty (not retired). In this instance all the eligible generals at Yamagata's instigation refused to serve in the Saionji cabinet, and the cabinet was compelled to resign.

Personal life and hobbies

Yamagata was a talented garden designer, and today the gardens he designed are considered masterpieces of Japanese gardens. A noted example is the garden of the villa Murin-an in

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 ...

. As Yamagata had no children, he adopted a nephew, the second son of his eldest sister, to be his heir.

Yamagata Isaburō Prince was a Japanese politician, cabinet minister, and Japanese Inspector-General of Korea. His wife was the daughter of Katō Hiroyuki. Biography Katsu Isaburō was born in Nagato Province in Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi prefecture ...

subsequently assisted his adopted father by serving as a career bureaucrat, cabinet minister, and head of the civilian administration of

.Biography of Yamagata Isaburo at the National Diet Library
/ref>

Awards

Japanese

Peerages in the '' Kazoku'' and other titles

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New Yor ...

(July 7, 1884) *'' Genrō'' (May 26, 1895) *

(August 5, 1895) *'' Gensui'' (January 20, 1898) *

(September 21, 1907)

Decorations

*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 ...

, ''2 November 1877'' *Grand Cordon of the

, with Paulownia Blossoms, ''5 August 1895'' *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, ''3 June 1902''; Collar, ''1 April 1906'' * Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd Class, ''5 August 1895''; 1st Class, ''1 April 1906''

Order of precedence

*Fifth Rank, ''August 1870'' *Fourth Rank, ''December 1872'' *Third Rank, ''December 1884'' *Second Rank, ''October 1886'' *Senior Second Rank, ''20 December 1895'' * Junior First Rank, ''1 February 1922'' (posthumous)

Foreign

*: **Knight of the

Royal Order of the Crown The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897 by King Leopold II in his c ...

, 1st Class, ''22 December 1886'' **Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle, ''14 June 1899'' *: Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, ''25 August 1887'' *: Grand Cross of the

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ( it, Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro) (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the wo ...

, ''30 October 1889'' *

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

: Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, 1st Class, ''22 November 1890'' *: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, ''7 May 1897'' *: ** Honorary Member of the Order of Merit, with Swords, ''21 February 1906'' **Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

, ''3 July 1918'' *: Knight of the

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Emperor ...

, ''14 January 1916''

Notes

References

OCLC 482814571
* * *
OCLC 12311985

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamagata, Aritomo 1838 births 1922 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Japan Government ministers of Japan Japanese generals Japanese people of the Russo-Japanese War Japanese tea masters Kazoku Marshals of Japan Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan Mōri retainers Nobles of the Meiji Restoration People from Chōshū domain Military personnel from Yamaguchi Prefecture People of the Boshin War Japanese military personnel of the First Sino-Japanese War Prime Ministers of Japan Imperial Japanese Army officers Samurai Recipients of the Order of the Golden Kite Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Honorary members of the Order of Merit