Marquess 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 ...

was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the

Meiji oligarchy The Meiji oligarchy was the new ruling class of Meiji period Japan. In Japanese, the Meiji oligarchy is called the . The members of this class were adherents of ''kokugaku'' and believed they were the creators of a new order as grand as that est ...

. He served as

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 ...

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 fo ...

in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

in Japan, and founder of

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

. He is considered a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

Early life

Ōkuma was born Hachitarō on March 11, 1838, in

Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

Hizen Province was an old province of Japan in the area of the Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō. It did not incl ...

(modern day

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

). He was the first son of 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 ...

-class

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

officer of the Saga Domain. During his early years, his education consisted mainly of the study of

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and ''

Hagakure ''Hagakure'' (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: ; meaning ''Hidden by the Leaves'' or ''Hidden Leaves''), or , is a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the clerk Yamamoto Tsunetomo, former retainer to Nab ...

'', which was written by a countryman samurai. However, he left school in 1853 to move to a

Dutch studies Dutch studies may refer to: * the academic study of Dutch culture and language ('' Neerlandistiek'') * Japanese Rangaku ''Rangaku'' (Kyūjitai: /Shinjitai: , literally "Dutch learning", and by extension "Western learning") is a body of knowledge ...

institution.Borton, p. 91. The Dutch school was merged with the provincial school in 1861, and Ōkuma took up a lecturing position there shortly afterward. Ōkuma sympathized with the ''

sonnō jōi was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought ...

'' movement, which aimed at expelling the Europeans who had started to arrive in Japan. However, he also advocated mediation between the rebels in Chōshū and the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

in Edo. During a trip to

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

, Ōkuma met a Dutch missionary named Guido Verbeck, who taught him the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

and provided him with copies of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

and the American

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

. These works are often said to have affected his political thinking profoundly, and encouraged him to support efforts to abolish the existing

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

and work toward the establishment of a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

al government. Ōkuma frequently traveled between Nagasaki and

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 ci ...

in the following years and became active in 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 ...

. In 1867, together with

Soejima Taneomi Count was a diplomat and statesman during early Meiji period Japan. Life and career Soejima was born into a ''samurai'' family in Saga, in Hizen Province (present-day Saga Prefecture). His father was a teacher in the domain's school and a scho ...

, he planned to recommend resignation to the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

. Leaving Saga Domain without permission, they went to Kyoto, where the ''shōgun'' then resided. However, Ōkuma and his companions were arrested and sent back to Saga. They were subsequently sentenced to one month imprisonment.

Meiji period political life

Following the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of the

in 1868, Okuma was placed in charge of foreign affairs for 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 ...

. At this time, he negotiated with British diplomat, Sir

Harry Smith Parkes Sir Harry Smith Parkes (24 February 1828 – 22 March 1885) was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese ...

on the ban of Christianity and insisted on maintaining the government's persecution on Catholics in

. In 1873, the Japanese government removed the ban on Christianity. He was soon given an additional post as head of Japan's monetary reform program. He made use of his close contacts with

Inoue Kaoru Marquess Inoue Kaoru (井上馨, January 16, 1836 – September 1, 1915) was a Japanese politician and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period of the Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesmen ('' Genrō'') in J ...

to secure a position in the central government in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He was elected to the first

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

in 1870 and soon became

Minister of Finance 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 which capacity he instituted property and taxation reforms that aided Japan's early industrial development. He also unified the nation's currency, created the national mint, and a separate

Minister of Industry The industry minister is a cabinet position in a government. The title may refer to the head of the governmental department that specializes in industry. This position may also be responsible for trade and employment, areas that fall under the mini ...

; however, he was dismissed in 1881 after a long series of disagreements with members of the

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

and Chōshū clique in the

, most notably

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samur ...

, over his efforts to secure foreign loans, to establish a constitution, and especially over his exposure of illicit property dealings involving

Kuroda Kiyotaka Count , also known as , was a Japanese politician of the Meiji era. He was Prime Minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889. He was also vice chairman of the Hokkaido Development Commission ( Kaitaku-shi). Biography As a Satsuma ''samurai'' Kur ...

and others from Satsuma. In 1882, Ōkuma co-founded the Constitutional Progressive Party ''(

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 ...

)'' which soon attracted a number of other leaders, including

Ozaki Yukio Ozaki (written: or ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese actor *, Japanese poet *, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese journalist *, Japanese footballe ...

and

Inukai Tsuyoshi Inukai Tsuyoshi ( ja, 犬養毅, 4 June 1855 – 15 May 1932) was a Japanese politician, cabinet minister, and Prime Minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. Inukai was Japan's second oldest prime minister while serving, as he ...

. That same year, Ōkuma founded the ''Tokyo Senmon Gakkō'' () in the Waseda district of

. The school later became

, one of the country's most prominent institutions of higher education. Despite their continuing animosity, Itō again appointed Ōkuma to the post of

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in February 1888 to deal with the difficult issue of negotiation revisions to the "

unequal treaties Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...

" with the Western powers. The treaty he negotiated was perceived by the public as too conciliatory to the Western powers, and created considerable controversy. Ōkuma was attacked by a member of the ''

Gen'yōsha The was an influential Pan-Asianist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan, and was considered to be an ultranationalist group by General Headquarters in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Foundation as the Ko ...

'' in 1889, and his right leg was blown off by a bomb. He retired from politics at that time. However, he returned to politics in 1896 by reorganizing the ''Rikken Kaishintō'' into the ''

Shimpotō was a short-lived political party in Meiji period Japan. The Shimpotō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu in March 1896, as a merger of the Rikken Kaishintō and minor political parties to offset a temporary alliance between Ōkuma's rival, Itō Hi ...

'' (Progressive Party). In 1897,

Matsukata Masayoshi Prince was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1891 to 1892 and 1896 to 1898. Early life Matsukata Masayoshi was born on 25 February 1835, in Arata, Kagoshima, Satsuma Province (present-day Shimoarata, Kagoshima, Kagosh ...

convinced Ōkuma to participate in his second administration as Foreign Minister and Agriculture and Commerce Minister, but again, he remained in office for only one year before resigning. In June 1898, Ōkuma co-founded the ''

Kenseitō The was a political party in the Meiji period Empire of Japan. History The ''Kenseitō'' was founded in June 1898, as a merger of the Shimpotō headed by Ōkuma Shigenobu and the Liberal Party (Jiyūtō) led by Itagaki Taisuke, with Ōkuma as pa ...

'' (Constitutional Government Party), by merging his Shimpotō with

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'' ...

's '' Jiyūtō,'' and was appointed by the Emperor to form the first partisan cabinet in Japanese history. The new cabinet survived for only four months before it fell apart due to internal dissension. Ōkuma remained in charge of the party until 1908, when he retired from politics. After his political retirement, Ōkuma became president of

and chairman of the Japan Civilization Society, from which scholars' many translations of European and American texts were published. He also gathered support for Japan's first expedition to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

Taishō period political life

Marquess Ōkuma Shigenobu, LCCN2014714019 (cropped)

At the request of the Emperor, Ōkuma returned to politics during the constitutional crisis of 1914, when the government of

Yamamoto Gonnohyōe , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and twice Prime Minister of Japan from 1913 to 1914 and again from 1923 to 1924. Biography Early life Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima in Satsuma Province (now Kagoshima Prefecture) as the sixth son ...

was forced to resign in the wake of the Siemens scandal. Ōkuma organized his supporters, together with the ''

Rikken Dōshikai The Rikken-Dōshi Kai ( ja, 立憲同志会, , Association of Comrades of the Constitution) was a political party active in the Empire of Japan in the early years of the 20th century. It was also known as simply the Dōshikai. Founded by Prime Mi ...

'' and ''

Chūseikai The Chūseikai ( ja, 中正会, lit. ''Impartiality Society'') was a political party in Japan. History The party was established in December 1913 as a merger of Ekirakukai and Seiyū Club and initially had 37 MPs.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Politi ...

'' organizations, into a coalition cabinet. The 2nd Ōkuma administration was noted for its active foreign policy. Later that year, Japan declared war on the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, thus entering

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on the Allied side. In 1915, Ōkuma and Katō Takaaki drafted the

Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands ( ja, 対華21ヶ条要求, Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū; ) was a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the government of the Republic of China on 18 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. However, Ōkuma's second administration was also short-lived. Following the

Ōura scandal of 1915 was one of several spectacular political scandals of late Meiji period, Meiji and Taishō periods in Japanese history. After the entry of Japan into World War I, the administration of Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigeno ...

, Ōkuma's cabinet lost popular support, and its members held mass resignation in October 1915. In 1916, after a long argument with the ''

Genrō was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras in Japanese history. The institution of ''genrō ...

'', Ōkuma resigned as well, and retired from politics permanently, although he remained a member of the

Upper House An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

of the

until 1922. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Supreme

Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously. Apart f ...

in 1916, and was elevated to the title of ''kōshaku'' () (

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 ...

) in the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

'' peerage system the same year. Ōkuma returned to Waseda, and died there in 1922.Beasley, p. 220. An estimated 300,000 people attended his funeral in Tokyo's

Hibiya Park Hibiya Park (日比谷公園 ''Hibiya Kōen'') is a park in Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan. It covers an area of 161,636.66 m2 (40 acres) between the east gardens of the Imperial Palace to the north, the Shinbashi district to the southeast and the K ...

. He was posthumously conferred with the Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, the nation's highest honour. He was buried at the temple of

Gokoku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Bunkyō. History This Buddhist temple was established by the fifth shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who dedicated it to his mother. It is notable for surviving the American air raids during World War II, w ...

in Tokyo.

Honours

''From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia''

Peerages

*Count (May 9, 1887) *Marquess (July 14, 1916)

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 ...

(November 2, 1877) *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (April 29, 1910) *Collar of the

(January 10, 1922, posthumous; Grand Cordon: July 14, 1916)

Court order of precedence

*Fifth rank, junior grade (1867) *Fourth rank, junior grade (1868) *Senior fourth rank (1870) *Third rank (July 22, 1871) *Senior third rank (December 26, 1887) *Second rank (February 17, 1888) *Senior second rank (June 20, 1898) * First rank (January 10, 1922 – posthumous)

Notes

References

* Beasley, W.G. (1963). ''The Making of Modern Japan''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. * Borton, Hugh (1955). ''Japan's Modern Century''. New York: The Ronald Press Company. * Idditti, Smimasa. ''Life of Marquis Shigenobu Okuma: A Maker of New Japan''. Kegan Paul International Ltd. (2006). * Idditti, Junesay. ''Marquis Shigenobu Okuma – A Biographical Study in the Rise of Democratic Japan''. Hokuseido Press (1956). ASIN: B000IPQ4VQ * Lebra-Chapman, Joyce. ''Okuma Shigenobu: statesman of Meiji Japan''. Australian National University Press (1973). * Oka Yoshitake, et al. ''Five Political Leaders of Modern Japan: Ito Hirobumi, Okuma Shigenobu, Hara Takashi, Inukai Tsuyoshi, and Saionji Kimmochi''. University of Tokyo Press (1984). * Tokugawa Munefusa (2005). ''Tokugawa yonhyakunen no naisho-banashi: raibaru bushō-hen'' Tokyo: Bungei-shunju * Brownas, Sidney DeVere. ''Nagasaki in the Meiji Restoration: Choshu Loyalists and British Arms Merchants''. http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/earns/meiji.html Retrieved on August 7, 2008.

External links

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

Less than 30% of primary school students in Japan know historical significance of Ōkuma
2008.
Photograph of Rabindranath Tagore and Count Okuma in Japan in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
* * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Okuma, Shigenobu 1838 births 1922 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Japan 20th-century prime ministers of Japan Foreign ministers of Japan Government ministers of Japan Japanese amputees Japanese people of World War I Kazoku Kenseitō politicians Meiji Restoration Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan Nabeshima retainers People from Saga (city) People of Meiji-period Japan Rikken Dōshikai politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians Rikken Kaishintō politicians 19th-century Japanese politicians Samurai Shimpotō politicians University and college founders Politicians from Saga Prefecture Burials in Japan