- Ito Miyoji
nihongo|Ito Miyoji|伊東巳代治|Itō Miyoji; (
7 May ,1857 -19 February 1934 ) was a statesman inMeiji period Japan .Early life
Itō was born into a local "
samurai " administrator's family in Nagasaki,Hizen Province (present-dayNagasaki Prefecture ). From his early days, he showed a mastery of foreign languages. After working as a translation official forHyōgo Prefecture , he served in the newMeiji government . He was selected to accompanyIto Hirobumi (no relation) to Europe in 1882 to investigate theconstitution s and governmental structures of various European counties, with the aim of creating a constitution for Japan.After his return to Japan, he assisted
Inoue Kowashi andKaneko Kentaro in drafting theMeiji Constitution , and was subsequently nominated to theHouse of Peers .Government career
In 1892, he was became
Chief Cabinet Secretary to Itō Hirobumi's second administration, and in 1898, served asMinister of Agriculture and Commerce under the third Itō administration.At the same time, Itō was also president of the pro-government newspaper, the
Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun (the predecessor to theMainichi Shimbun ).From 1899, Itō served as a member of the Privy Council. In 1907, he was ennobled with the title of "danshaku" (
baron ) under the "kazoku " peerage system. He was further elevated to "hakushaku" (count ) in 1922.Later career
In his later years, Itō was the bane of civilian government through his consistent and conservative use of the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun to inflame public opinion. During the
Financial Crisis of 1927 , he brought out the collapse of the administration of Prime MinisterWakatsuki Reijiro through a virulent bad-press campaign. He also strongly criticized Prime MinisterHamaguchi Osachi for accepting theLondon Naval Conference proposal on arms limitations as infringing on the direct prerogatives of the emperor.His grave is at the
Tsukiji Hongan-ji temple inTokyo .References and Further Reading
*Gordon, Andrew. "A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present." Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-511061-7
*Sims, Richard. "Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000." Palgrave Macmillan, 2001) ISBN 0-312-23914-9External links
* [ http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/14.html?c=0 National Diet Library Photo & Bio]
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