Itagaki Taisuke
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- For information on the warrior woman, see Itagaki
Itagaki Taisuke (板垣 退助 Itagaki Taisuke?); (21 May 1837– 16 July 1919) was a Japanese politician and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由見民権運動 jiyu minken undo?), which evolved into Japan’s first political party.
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[edit] Early life
Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking samurai family in Tosa District, (present day Kochi Prefecture, After studies in Kōchi and in Edo, he was appointed as sobayonin (councillor) to Tosa daimyo Yamauchi Toyoshige, and was in charge of accounts and military matters at the domain's Edo residence in 1861. He disagreed with the domain’s official policy of kobu gattai (reconciliation between the Imperial Court and the Tokugawa bakufu), and in 1867-1868, he met with Saigo Takamori of the Satsuma domain, and agreed to pledge Tosa's forces in the effort to overthrow the Shogun in the upcoming Meiji Restoration. During the Boshin War, he emerged as the leading political figure from Tosa domain, and claimed a place in the new Meiji government after the Tokugawa defeat.
[edit] Meiji statesman to liberal agitator
Itagaki was appointed a Councilor of State in 1869, and was involved in several key reforms, such as the abolition of the han system in 1871. As a sangi (councillor), he ran the government temporarily during the absence of the Iwakura Mission.
However, Itagaki resigned from the Meiji government in 1873 over disagreement with the government's policy of restraint toward Korea (Seikanron) and, more generally, in opposition to the Chōshū-Satsuma domination of the new government.
In 1874, together with Goto Shojiro of Tosa and Eto Shimpei and Soejima Taneomi of Hizen, he formed the Aikoku Koto (Public Party of Patriots), declaring, "We, the thirty millions of people in Japan are all equally endowed with certain definite rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring and possessing property, and obtaining a livelihood and pursuing happiness. These rights are by Nature bestowed upon all men, and, therefore, cannot be taken away by the power of any man." This anti-government stance appealed to the discontented remnants of the samurai class and the rural aristocracy (who resented centralized taxation) and peasants (who were discontented with high prices and low wages). Itagaki's involvement in liberalism lent it political legitimacy in Japan, and he became a leader of the push for democratic reform.
Itagaki and his associations created a variety of organizations to fuse samurai ethos with western liberalism and to agitate for a national assembly, written constitution and limits to arbitrary exercise of power by the government. These included the Risshisha (Self-Help Movement) and the Aikokusha (Society of Patriots) in 1875. After funding issues led to initial stagnation, the Aikokusha was revived in 1878 and agitated with increasing success as part of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. The Movement drew the ire of the government and its supporters. In 1882, Itagaki was almost assassinated by a right-wing militant, to whom he said, "Itagaki may perish, but liberty will survive."
[edit] Leadership of the Liberal Party
Government leaders met at the Osaka Conference of 1875, enticing Itagaki to return as a sangi (councilor): however, he resigned after a couple of months to oppose what he viewed as excessive concentration of power in the Genroin.
Itagaki created the Liberal Party (Jiyuto) together with Numa Morikazu in 1881, which, along with the Rikken Kaishinto, led the nationwide popular discontent of 1880-1884. During this period, a rift developed in the movement between the lower class members and the aristocratic leadership of the party. Itagaki became embroiled in controversy when he took a trip to Europe believed by many to have been funded by the government. The trip turned out to have been provided by the Mitsui Company, but suspicions that Itagaki was being won over to the government side persisted. Consequently, radical splinter groups proliferated, undermining the unity of the party and the Movement.
The Liberal Party dissolved itself on 20 October 1884. It was reestablished shortly before the opening of the Imperial Diet in 1890 as the Rikken Jiyuto.
In April 1896, Itagaki joined the second Ito administration as Home Minister. In 1898, Itagaki joined with Okuma Shigenobu of the Shimpoto to form the Kenseito, and Japan's first party government. Okuma became Prime Minister, and Itagaki continued serving as Home Minister. The Cabinet collapsed after four months of squabbling between the factions, demonstrating the immaturity of parliamentary democracy at the time in Japan.
Itagaki retired from public life in 1900 and spent the rest of his days writing. He died of natural causes in 1919.
[edit] Legacy
Itagaki is credited as being the first Japanese party leader and an important force for liberalism in Meiji Japan. He was elevated to the peerage posthumously, and given the rank of hakushaku (count).
His portrait has appeared on the 50-sen and 100-yen banknotes issued by the Bank of Japan.
[edit] Further reading
- Beasley, W. G. The Rise of Modern Japan: Political, Economic and Social Change Since 1850. St. Martin's Press, New York 1995.
- Jansen, Marius B. and Gilbert Rozman, eds. Japan in Transition: From Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.
- Totten, George O. (compiled by). Democracy in Prewar Japan: Groundwork or Facade?. D.C. Heath and Company, Boston (1966).
