was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

politician and cabinet minister in the Taishō period and early

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He was the grandfather of

Jun'ichirō Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...

, who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006.

Biography

Koizumi was born in Mutsuura,

Musashi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

(part of present-day

Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama is one of the 18 Wards of Japan, wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the ward had an estimated population of 209,565 and a population density, density of 6,760 persons per km². The total area was . The war ...

)Biography at National Diet Library
/ref> to Koizumi Yoshibe, a scaffolder, and his wife Yuki. He moved to nearby

Yokosuka, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city is ...

with his parents, where his father worked as a procurer of

day labor Day labor (or day labour in American and British English spelling differences, Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future, and outside t ...

ers, carpenters,

steeplejack A steeplejack is a trade (profession), craftsman who scales tall buildings and structures to carry out repairs or maintenance. They are sometimes also involved in new construction, as well as demolition. Processes and techniques Steeplejacks ...

s and materials for the

Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate govern ...

. The young Koizumi grew up in a rough environment. In 1878, after graduating from the predecessor of Yokosuka Elementary School, he tried to enlist in a preparatory school for

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

officer candidates, but was returned home when it was discovered he was underage and did not have his father’s permission. He attempted the same again in 1880 to a preparatory school for the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

. On the death of his elder brother, he was forced to inherit his father’s business and around this time obtained a large

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

of a red dragon which covered most of his back and upper arms, and was addressed as “boss” by his fellow steeplejacks. He also became a member of the

Rikken Kaishintō The was a political party in the 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 receive ...

in 1887 and around this time married Ayabe Nao, a 30-year-old

geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...

. In 1907, Koizumi fathered his only child, Yoshie, with Ishikawa Hatsu, one of his mistresses. Koizumi’s daughter gave birth in 1942 to a son, Junichirō, who later became

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. In 1889, Koizumi became a reporter for the

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilin ...

, and in 1903 was elected to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. Vocal in support of ultranationalist causes, he participated in the Hibiya Incendiary Incident in protest of the

Treaty of Portsmouth The Treaty of Portsmouth is a treaty that formally ended the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905, after negotiations from August 6 to 30, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States. U.S. P ...

in 1905. In 1907, Koizumi was elected to the Yokosuka city assembly, and in the 1908 General Election successfully ran for a seat in the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. He was reelected 12 consecutive times, holding his seat of 38 years until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He rose to the post of secretary-general of the

Kenseikai The was a short-lived political party in the pre-war Empire of Japan. History The ''Kenseikai'' was founded on 10 October 1916, as a merger of the ''Rikken Dōshikai'' (led by Katō Takaaki), ''Chūseikai'' (led by Ozaki Yukio) and the ''Kōy� ...

and was a leader in the movement towards universal

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, leading mass rallies in Tokyo. In 1924, he became Vice-Chairman of the House and also served as secretary-general 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. ...

from 1928-1929 and 1937-1938. In 1929, Koizumi was appointed Communications Minister in the 4th Hamaguchi administration and 2nd Wakatsuki administration. page 159 During this time, he was nicknamed the "wild man" or "

irezumi (also spelled or sometimes ) is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing, though it is also used as a blanket term to describe a number of tattoo styles originating in Japan, inc ...

minister", from his flamboyant speeches. As minister, he unsuccessfully sought to privatize the Japanese postal system. In 1942, Koizumi became mayor of Yokosuka. In 1937, he joined the

Imperial Rule Assistance Association The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling political organization during much of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals ...

and was appointed deputy chairman of the

Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association The , abbreviated to ''Yokuseikai'' or IRAPA, was the policymaking body set up within the Imperial Rule Assistance Association for the purpose of liaising between the IRAA and the National Diet, and consisted of a joint caucus of members of both ...

. In 1944, he was an advisor to Prime Minister

Kuniaki Koiso was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945, during World War II. He previously served as minister of colonial affairs in 1939 and 1940, and as governor-general of Korea from 1942 to 1944. Kois ...

. He was selected to be a member of the House of Peers, but in 1946, under the

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

, he was purged from public office. He died in 1951.

Legacy

Koizumi's son-in-law,

Jun'ya Koizumi Junya Koizumi (小泉純也, ''Koizumi Jun'ya'') (January 24, 1904 – August 10, 1969) was a Japanese politician who served as Director General of the Ministry of Defense (Japan), Japan Defense Agency during the 1960s. Life and career Koizumi w ...

, became a director general of the Japan Defense Agency and a second-generation member of the Diet of Japan. Koizumi's grandson,

, served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006 and inherited his grandfather's idea of postal privatization; Jun'ichirō had himself been Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in 1992-93 under Prime Minister

Kiichi Miyazawa was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993. Born in Tokyo, Miyazawa graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a law degree, and in 1942 joined the Ministry of Finance. He was first elected to the Nati ...

References

External links

Biography at National Diet Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koizumi, Matajiro 1865 births 1951 deaths People from Kanazawa, Yokohama Politicians from Yokohama Matajiro Government ministers of Japan Rikken Kaishintō politicians 19th-century Japanese politicians Kenseikai politicians Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Members of the House of Peers (Japan)

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links