was a politician and cabinet minister in the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

, serving a member of 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 ...

eight times, and four as a cabinet minister. He was noted in his early political career as a champion of universal suffrage, social welfare, labor unions, women's rights and

Pan-Asianism file:Asia satellite orthographic.jpg , Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian people, Asian peo ...

. pages 161–184

Biography

Nagai was born in

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

, where his father had been a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

in the service of the

Maeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan through Sugawara no Kiyotom ...

. Nagai studied at a middle school run by

Doshisha University , also referred to as , is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1875, it is one of Japan's oldest private institutions of higher learning, and has approximately 30,000 students enrolled on four campuses in Kyoto. It is one of Japa ...

and the Kansei Gakuen and converted to

Unitarianism Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...

in 1901. He was a devout Christian, and read the Bible every day. He studied at the School of Politics and Economics at

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

, where he was highly influenced by Abe Isoo and the concept of "Christian-Socialism" and with Abe's assistance he secured a scholarship to study at Manchester College within

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for further studies. He returned to graduate from Waseda with a degree in Colonial Studies, and with the assistance of

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese politician who served as the prime minister of Japan in 1898, and from 1914 to 1916. Born in the Saga Domain, Ōkuma was appointed minister of finance soon after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, aided by his friendship w ...

obtained a post there as a teacher. He also edited ''Shin Nippon'', a monthly magazine that was a mouthpiece for Okuma's political views. In 1912, Nagai wrote optimistically about the possibility of large-scale Japanese settlement on under-developed agricultural lands in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. Nagai ran for a seat in the Lower House of the Diet during the 1917 General Election from the Kanazawa district, but was defeated by the ''

Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political party, political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the ''Seiyūkai''. Founded on September 15, 1900, by Itō Hirobumi,David S. Spencer, "Some Thoughts on the Political Devel ...

'' candidate Nakahashi Tokugōrō by only 203 votes. For the 1920 General Election, Nakahashi changed his electoral district to Osaka, and Nagai was elected. He retained his seat over the next seven elections, eventually rising to the position of 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. ...

'' political party. Nagai was known for his strong oratory, combining ponderous speech with colorful or flamboyant phrases. (He was once censured by the Diet for making a congratulatory speech on the inauguration of Prime Minister

Hara Takashi was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1918 until his assassination. Hara held several minor ambassadorial roles before rising through the ranks of the Rikken Seiyūkai and being elected to the House of Repr ...

by comparing Hara’s victory to that of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

). page 280 In May 1932, Nagai was picked to be Minister of Colonial Affairs under the Saitō administration, which he held until July 1934. In June 1937, he was selected to be Minister of Communications under the Konoe administration, until January 1939 and returned to the same post from August 1939 to January 1940 under the Abe administration. Also under the Abe administration, he served as Railroad Minister concurrently with his term as Minister of Communications. During his later career, Nagai became increasingly critical of what he perceived to be the racist and imperialistic designs of United States and United Kingdom on Asia, writing essays and issuing speeches on the "White Peril" and on the mission of Japan to protect China from the western powers and to liberate Asia from its European masters. A leading member of the pro-military clique within the ''Rikken Minseitō'', Nagai was a member of the League of Diet Members Carry Through the Holy War and a key supporter of Konoe’s plan to create a single-party state under the '' Taisei Yokusankai.'' Under the war-time regime, he was appointed a political bureau chief for Greater East Asia Development Board, and also founded the "Greater Japan Scholarship Foundation", the predecessor to the modern Japan Student Services Organization. In a speech in 1943, he promoted the concept of ''

hakkō ichiu or (: , ) was a Japanese political slogan meaning the divine right of the Empire of Japan to "World domination, unify the eight corners of the world." The slogan formed the basis of the empire's ideology. It was prominent from the Second Sin ...

'' as meaning the "universal brotherhood" of mankind, rather than imperial domination of the world by Japan. Nagai died in 1944, shortly after the Tokyo Air Raid. Michio Nagai,

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the Miki administration was Nagai’s eldest son.

References

* * 161–184

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Ryutaro 1881 births 1944 deaths Politicians from Ishikawa Prefecture Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Government ministers of Japan Waseda University alumni Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians Japanese Protestants Converts to Protestantism Pan-Asianists People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa