Baron was an entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war

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 ...

. Nakajima was born in

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 To ...

. His father Baron Nakajima Nobuyuki was from

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

, was the first Speaker of the

House of Representatives of Japan The is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors is the upper house. The composition of the House is established by and of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives ha ...

and Japanese ambassador to Italy. Nakajima initially entered

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

, but left without graduating, and obtained a degree from the Higher Commercial School (the predecessor to

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social sciences ...

) in 1897, obtaining a position at the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

on graduation. In 1899, he became secretary to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Katsura Tarō Prince was a Japanese politician and general of the Imperial Japanese Army who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1901 to 1906, from 1908 to 1911, and from 1912 to 1913. Katsura was a distinguished general of the First Sino-Japanese W ...

and in 1906 served as secretary to Prime Minister

Saionji Kinmochi Prince was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908 and from 1911 to 1912. He was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920. As the last surviving member of Japan's ''genrō,'' he was the most in ...

. In 1907, Nakajima went to work for the mining consortium Fukukawa Kogyo. He helped establish

Josai University is a private university in Sakado, Saitama, Japan, established in 1965. The predecessor of the school, Jōsai Gakuen Middle School, later Jōsai High School, was founded in 1918. The university is operated by the Josai University Educational Corp ...

in 1918. In 1920, Nakajima was instrumental in joining Furukawa Electric, Fuji Electric, Yokohama Rubber and a number of smaller companies into the Furukawa Consortium, one of the 15 largest ''

zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signi ...

'' in pre-war Japan. In 1927, he was an influential member of the Deliberation Council within the

Ministry of Commerce and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and M ...

, pushing for increased compilation of industrial statistics, loans to small and medium businesses and export industries, and the adoption of the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the d ...

. In 1932, Nakajima joined the Saito Makoto administration as Minister of Commerce and Industry. In 1921, on viewing a wooden statue of

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

at the temple of

Seiken-ji , is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen, located in the Okitsu neighborhood of Shimizu-ku ward of the city of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan. Its main image is a statue of Shaka Nyōrai. ...

Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka is the easternmost of the three wards of the city of Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. History Shimizu-ku was created on April 1, 2005, when Shizuoka became a city designated by government ordinance (a "designated city"). Its area is almo ...

, Nakajima had contributed a

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

poem to a

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

. He commented that the official educational policy vilifying

as a traitor to the nation for his betrayal of

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...

should be re-evaluated. The article was discovered by ultrarightists and militarists eager to find leverage to embarrass and to bring down the Saito administration. Nakajima was called before the House of Peers, where he was browbeaten by retired General Baron

Takeo Kikuchi is a Japanese industrial and fashion designer. He designs such things as spectacle frames and chronograph A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has an inde ...

and others, who forced his resignation on 2 February 1934, a date making the 600th anniversary of the

Kemmu restoration The was a three-year period of Imperial rule in Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period from 1333 to 1336. The Kenmu Restoration was an effort made by Emperor Go-Daigo to overthrow the ruling Kamakura Shogunate a ...

. In 1937, Nakajima was one of 16 officials arrested on trumped-up charges of corruption in the

Teijin Incident The was a political scandal in the early Shōwa period of Imperial Japan which brought about the collapse of the administration of Prime Minister Saitō Makoto in 1934. History and background In June 1933, the ''Banchokai'', a group of young inv ...

. He was subsequently cleared of all charges after a lengthy trial, but withdrew from public service after this event.Mitchell, Political Bribery in Japan. Page 73 After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, Nakajima emerged from seclusion to become chairman of the Japan Trade Association in 1950. In 1955, he became president of the radio company,

Nippon Cultural Broadcasting is a Japanese radio station in Tokyo which broadcasts to the Kanto area. It is one of the two flagship radio stations of National Radio Network (NRN) (the other station is ) and is a member of the Fujisankei Communications Group. History The ...

. He died at his villa in

Hayama, Kanagawa 260px, Morito Beach is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, on central Honshū, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 32,961 and a population density of 1900 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Since 1894, the Japane ...

in 1960. He was posthumously awarded 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 ...

, 1st class.

References

*Johnson, Chalmers. ''Miti and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy : 1925-1975''. Stanford University Press (1982) *Mass, Jeffery. ''The Origins of Japan's Medieval World: Courtiers, Clerics, Warriors, and Peasants in the Fourteenth Century''. Stanford University Press (1997) *Mitchell, Richard. ''Political Bribery in Japan''. University of Hawai Press (1996)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Kumakichi 1873 births 1960 deaths People from Yokohama Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Kazoku