was a politician and journalist in

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.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Numa Morikazu" in .

Biography

Born to 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 ...

'' family in Edo in 1843, Numa was involved in scholarship at an early age. He learned English from

James Curtis Hepburn James Curtis Hepburn (; March 13, 1815 – September 21, 1911) was an American physician, translator, educator, and lay Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, and was later sent to study western military science at

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

. He translated a text on English-style infantry warfare in 1866 and, in 1867, he was commissioned as a ''hohei-gashira nami'' (歩兵頭並; roughly equivalent to a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

) in the Shogunate's elite ''

Denshūtai The was a corps of elite troops of the Tokugawa Bakufu during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. The corps was founded by Ōtori Keisuke with the help of the 1867–68 French Military Mission to Japan. The corps was composed of 800 men. They w ...

'' unit. Numa fought on the Tokugawa side in the Boshin War. Following 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 ...

, after a brief period in prison, he was released due to a favor he had once done for

Itagaki Taisuke Count was a Japanese politician. He was a leader of the "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" and founded Japan's first political party, the Liberal Party. Biography Early life Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking ''samurai'' ...

, and was hired by the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

as an infantry warfare instructor for the

Tosa Domain The was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by ...

. He also taught English in Tōkyō. Among his students were Takamine Hideo and Shiba Shirō, the sons of former Aizu ''samurai'' who would later become famous in academia. Numa entered the

Finance Ministry A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in 1872, and later worked for the

Justice Ministry A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...

, and elsewhere within the government. In 1873, together with

Kōno Togama Viscount was a Japanese statesman in Meiji period Japan. Biography Kōno was born in Kōchi, Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture) as the eldest son of a local low-ranking ''samurai''. He was sent to Edo in 1858 where (along with Mu ...

, he founded Horitsu Koshukai (the predecessor of

Omeisha The was a political association of the early Meiji Period that was founded in 1878 by Morikazu Numa, who was grand secretary at the Genroin. It strongly advocated democratic rights and the establishment of a national parliament. It established ...

). Following peasant unrest, Numa was sent to investigate the situation in

Sakata Prefecture Sakata may refer to: People * Jeanne Sakata, American actress and playwright * Lenn Sakata (Lenn Haruki Sakata) (born 1954), former American professional baseball player * Harold Sakata (Toshiyuki "Harold" Sakata) (1920–1982), American Olym ...

late in 1875. Dissatisfied with government policies restricting freedom of speech, he retired from the

Genrōin The was a national assembly in early Meiji Japan, established after the Osaka Conference of 1875. It is also referred to as the Senate of Japan, being the word used to describe the Roman Senate, and other western legislatures named after it. ...

in 1879 and decided to devote his energies to the

Freedom and People's Rights Movement The (abbreviated as ) or Popular Rights Movement was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy in the 1880s. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the Unequal Treaties with the United States and European c ...

. He purchased a newspaper, the ''Yokohama Mainichi Shinbun''. Reorganizing it into the ''Tōkyō-Yokohama Mainichi Shinbun'', he used it as a mouthpiece for the liberal ideas he always supported, and used it to call for the establishment of a

national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. In 1881, he prepared the foundation of

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

with Itagaki Taisuke but joined the ''

Rikken Kaishintō The was a political party in Empire of Japan. It was also known as simply the Kaishintō. The Kaishintō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu on 16 April 1882, with the assistance of Yano Ryūsuke, Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio. It received fin ...

'' with

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, and ...

following year. At the same time, from 1882 until his death, he was head of the Tōkyō Prefectural Assembly. Numa died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in 1890, at the age of 47.

Notes

References

* Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press. /
OCLC 44090600
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

. ;
OCLC 58053128
* Sims, Richard L. (1998). ''French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854–1894''. London: RoutledgeCurzon. * ___________. (2001). ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. /; /
OCLC 45172740
{{DEFAULTSORT:Numa, Morikazu Samurai 1843 births 1890 deaths Meiji Restoration Japanese journalists People from Tokyo People of Meiji-period Japan Hatamoto People of the Boshin War Japanese educators Rikken Kaishintō politicians 19th-century Japanese politicians Deaths from pneumonia in Japan 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century male writers

Biography

See also

Notes

References