Saionji Kinmochi

Infobox Politician
name =Saionji Kinmochi

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caption =Prime Minister of Japan
birth_date =birth date|1849|10|23|df=y
birth_place =Kyōto, Japan
residence =
death_date =death date and age|1940|11|24|1849|10|23|df=y
death_place =
office =12th Prime Minister of Japan
salary =
term_start = 7 January 1906
term_end = 14 July 1908
predecessor =Katsura Tarō
successor =Katsura Tarō
constituency =
office2 =14th Prime Minister of Japan
salary2 =
term_start2 = 30 August 1911
term_end2 = 21 December 1912
predecessor2 =Katsura Tarō
successor2 =Katsura Tarō
constituency2 =
office3 =
salary3 =
term_start3 =
term_end3 =
predecessor3 =
successor3 =
constituency3 =
party =Rikken Seiyūkai
religion =
occupation = Cabinet Minister
majority =
spouse =
children =
website =
footnotes =

nihongo| Saionji Kinmochi, 1st Prince Saionji |西園寺 公望| Saionji Kinmochi (23 October 1849 –24 November 1940) was a Japanese politician, statesman and twice Prime Minister of Japan. His title does not signify the son of an emperor, but the highest rank of Japanese hereditary nobility; he was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920. As the last surviving "genrō," he was Japan's most honored statesman of the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Kinmochi was born in Kyōto as the son of Udaijin Tokudaiji Kin'ito (1821-1883), head of a "kuge" family of court nobility. He was adopted by another "kuge" family, the Saionji, in 1851. However, he grew up near his biological parents, since both the Tokudaiji and Saionji lived very near the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The young Saionji Kinmochi was frequently ordered to visit the palace as a playmate of the young prince who later became Emperor Meiji. Over time they became close friends. Kinmochi's biological brother Tokudaiji Sanetsune later became the Grand Chamberlain of Japan. Another younger brother was adopted into the very wealthy Sumitomo family and as Sumitomo Kichizaemon became the head of the Sumitomo zaibatsu. Sumitomo money largely financed Saionji's political career. His close relationship to the Imperial Court opened all doors to him. In his later political life, he was an influence on both the Taishō and Shōwa emperors.

Meiji Restoration

As the heir of a noble family, Saionji participated in politics from an early age and was known for his brilliant talent. He took part in the climactic event of his time, the Boshin War, the revolution in Japan of 1867 and 1868, which overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate and installed the young Emperor Meiji as the (nominal) head of the government. Some noblemen at the Imperial Court considered the war to be a private dispute of the samurai of Satsuma and Choshu against those of the Tokugawa. Saionji held the strong opinion that the nobles of the Imperial Court should seize the initiative and take part in the war. He participated in various battles as an imperial representative.

Overseas career

After the Meiji Restoration, he went to France in 1871 for nine years to research European culture, institutions and law, and lived in Paris. These were the early years of the Third Republic, a time of high idealism in France. Saionji could not have foreseen liberty, equality, and fraternity in Japan, but he was always the most liberal of Japanese major political figures of his generation. He made many acquaintances in France, including that of Georges Clemenceau.

On his return to Japan, he founded the Meiji Law School, which later evolved into Meiji University.

In 1882, Itō Hirobumi visited Europe in order to research the constitutional systems of each major European country, and he asked Saionji to accompany him, as they knew each other very well. After the trip, he was appointed ambassador to Austria-Hungary, and later to Germany and Belgium.

Political career

Returning to Japan, Saionji joined the Privy Council, and served as president of the House of Peers. He also served as Minister of Education in the 2nd and 3rd Ito administrations (1892-1893, 1898) and 2nd Matsukata administration. During his tenure, he strove to improve the quality of the educational curriculum towards an international (i.e. western) standard.

In 1900, Itō founded the "Rikken Seiyūkai" political party, and Saionji joined as one of the first members. Due to his experiences in Europe, Saionji had a liberal political point of view and supported parliamentary government. He was one of the few early politicians who claimed that the majority party in parliament had to be the basis for forming a cabinet.

Saionji replaced Itō as president of the Privy Council in 1900, and as president of the "Rikken Seiyūkai" in 1903.

Prime Minister

From 7 January 1906 – 14 July 1908, and again from 30 August 1911 – 21 December 1912, Saionji served as Prime Minister of Japan.Both his ministries were marked by continuing tension between Saionji and the powerful arch-conservative genrō, Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo. Saionji and Itō saw political parties as a useful part of the machinery of government; Yamagata looked on political parties and all democratic institutions as quarrelsome, corrupt, and irrational. Saionji had to struggle with the national budget with many demands and finite resources, Yamagata sought ceaselessly the greatest expansion of the army. Saionji's first cabinet was brought down in 1908 by conservatives led by Yamagata who were alarmed at the growth of socialism, who felt the government's suppression of socialists (after a parade and riots) had been insufficiently forceful.

The fall of Saionji's second cabinet was a major reverse to constitutional government. The Taishō Crisis (so named for the newly enthroned emperor) erupted in late November 1912, out of the continuing bitter dispute over the military budget. The army minister, General Uehara, unable to get the cabinet to agree on the army's demands, resigned. Saionji sought to replace Uehara. A Japanese law (intended to give added power to the army and navy) required that the army minister must be a lieutenant general or general on active duty. All of the eligible generals, on Yamagata's instruction, refused to serve in Saionji's cabinet. The cabinet was forced to resign. The precedent had been established, that the army could force the resignation of a cabinet.

Saionji's political philosophy was heavily influenced by his background; he believed the Imperial Court should be guarded and that it should not participate directly in politics - the same strategy employed by noblemen and the Court in Kyoto for hundreds of years. This was another point in which he was opposed by nationalists in the Army, who wished for the Emperor to participate in Japanese politics directly and thus weaken both parliament and the cabinet. Nationalists also accused him of being a 'globalist'.

Elder statesman

Saionji was appointed a "genrō" in 1913. The role of the "genrō" at this time was diminishing; their main function was to choose the prime ministers - formally, to nominate candidates for Prime Minister to the Emperor for approval, but no Emperor ever rejected their advice. From the death of Matsukata Masayoshi in 1924 Saionji was the sole surviving "genrō". He exercised his prerogative of naming the prime ministers very nearly until his death in 1940 at the age of 91. Saionji, when he could, chose as prime minister the president of the majority party in the Diet, but his power was always constrained by the necessity of at least the tacit consent of the army and navy. He could chose political leaders only when they might be strong enough to form an effective government. He nominated military men and non-party politicians when he felt necessary. In 1919 Saionji led the Japanese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, though his role was largely symbolic due to ill health. Saionji, a never-married man of 70, was accompanied to Paris by his son, his favorite daughter, and his current mistress. In 1920 he was given the title "koshaku" (公爵, Prince) as an honor for a life in public service.

He was detested by the militarists and was on the list of those to be assassinated in the attempted coup of February 26, 1936. Saionji, on receiving news of the mutiny, fled from his home for his life in his car, pursued for a great distance by a strange car that he and his companions supposed held soldiers bent on his murder. It held newspaper reporters.

In much of his career, Saionji tried to diminish the influence of the Imperial Japanese Army in political issues. He was one of the most liberal of Emperor Hirohito's advisors, and favored friendly relations with Great Britain and the United States. However, he was careful to pick his battles, and often accepted defeat to the militarists when placed into a position from which he could not easily win, thus was unable to prevent the Tripartite Pact.

References

* Conners, Leslie. "The Emperor's Adviser: Saionji Kinmochi and Pre-War Japanese Politics". Routledge Kegan & Paul. ISBN 0-7099-3449-1
* Hackett, Roger F. "Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan". Harvard University Press (1971).
* Hadara, Kumao. "The Saionji-Harada memoirs, 1931-1940: Complete translation into English". University Publications of America (1978). ASIN: B000724T6W
* 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). ISBN 0-86008-379-9

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