Five Political Leaders of Modern Japan:

Just for the Record: Ōkuma Shigenobu and the Mediatisation of 1910s Japanese Politic(ian)S

“…In the last turbulent years of the military government, the shogunate, Ōkuma belonged to a generation of politically highly active warriors, who urged their feudal overlord to engage more forcefully in national politics, believing, in opposition to many other contemporaries, that it was no option to 'expel the barbarians and revere the Emperor' as a common slogan of more radical young 'men of purpose' who wanted to use force against Western countries went. 10 In the end it was young members of the warrior class from two other feudal domains in south-western Japan, Satsuma and Chōshū, who managed to lead the overthrow of the shogunate. This is important to remark because these main actors of the so-called Meiji Restoration of 1867-68 would form powerful personal networks de facto dominating government and bureaucracy for decades, making it difficult for others to participate in the power elites of the newly forming nation state.…”

“…Ōkuma became a member of the Junior Council in 1868 and soon after was also de facto in charge of finances, being promoted to the Council of State in 1870. 12 But in the aftermath of the last, unsuccessful, samurai uprising against the new government, the 'South-Western War' of 1877, in which he managed the finances of the juvenile new government, he made the mistake of crossing his fellow councillors by directly appealing to the Emperor in favour of introducing a constitution modelled after the British example. This and his outspoken criticism against corruption with regard to the sale of former state enterprises on the northern island of Hokkaidō led to his downfall in 1881.…”

“…This and his outspoken criticism against corruption with regard to the sale of former state enterprises on the northern island of Hokkaidō led to his downfall in 1881. 13 Afterwards he became part of the opposition, the so-called Movement for Freedom and People's Rights, which demanded a constitution including a parliament and mounted strong criticism against the networks of the two former domains Satsuma and Chōshū. In 1882 Ōkuma was co-founder of the second modern political party of Japan, the Kaishintō (Progressive Party).…”

“…This school would become one of the leading institutions for liberal arts and as such for educating future journalists. 17 In 1888 Ōkuma was appointed Foreign Minister but in an attempt on his life by extremists who criticised him for being too lenient when trying to renegotiate the 'Unequal Treaties' he lost a leg. He only returned to government briefly in 1896 and then in 1898 even becoming Prime Minister leading, for the first time in Japanese history, a 'party cabinet'.…”

“…18 After the cabinet failed due to internal strife Ōkuma over the coming years became more isolated in his party and was finally ousted in 1907. 19 Parallel to that, the new party Seiyūkai started to dominate party politics of Japan in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, striking a compromise with the still powerful Satsuma and Chōshū cliques led by the genrō, the 'elderly statesmen', who were 'advising' the Emperor on whom to pick as Prime Minister, and securing large swaths of seats in the House of Commons. The Imperial Diet had been established in 1890 but the right to vote, exclusively given for male citizens, was dependent on a strict census of initially a minimum of 15 yen of direct tax payment per year and an age of 25, thus limiting the electorate to just about 1,1% of the estimated Japanese population of 39,9 million in 1890.…”