Sukenori Kabayama

Japanese: 樺山資紀 - かばやま・すけのり

Year of death: February 8, 1922
Year of birth: Tempo 8.11.12 (1837.12.9)
A military man and politician in the Meiji and Taisho periods. He was the third son of Hashiguchi Yozaburo, a samurai of the Satsuma (Kagoshima) domain, and was adopted into the Kabayama family. After serving in the Anglo-Satsuma and Boshin wars, he joined the army and was commissioned as a major. In 1874 (Meiji 7), he participated in the Taiwan expedition, and served as chief of staff of the Kumamoto garrison during the Seinan War. In 1881, he was promoted to major general and became superintendent general of the Metropolitan Police, where he fought against the intensifying Freedom and People's Rights Movement. On December 8, 1881, at a party at Rokumeikan, he was secretly asked by his fellow influential hometown man, Saigo Tsugumichi, to be transferred to the post of Navy Taifu, and he was appointed on the 13th. In 1882, he was promoted to rear admiral, and worked hard to build the naval system, including the establishment of the Military Department of the Navy Ministry. After the cabinet system was established, he served as vice minister under Saigo from 1884 to 1888, and then, as minister of navy in both the first Yamagata Aritomo and first Matsukata Masayoshi cabinets, he called for large-scale expansion of the navy. In December 1891, in the second Diet, against the so-called Minto Party that opposed naval expansion, he asserted the legitimacy of his government by saying, "Whether we call it the Satsuma-Choshu government or some other government, who is to say that we have maintained the peace of the country today and ensured its safety without affecting the souls of 40 million people, it is the merit of whose efforts it is," which triggered the dissolution of the House of Representatives. This speech is known as the "barbaric speech." In 1892, together with Army Minister Takashima Tomonosuke, he opposed the follow-up measures taken by Home Minister Kono Toshikama for interference in the election, which was the direct catalyst for the resignation of the first Matsukata cabinet. At the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, he was appointed Chief of the Navy General Staff. In 1893, he was promoted to general and, as the first Governor-General of Taiwan, he was responsible for pacifying various parts of Taiwan, but many soldiers and workers were killed. In 1894, he served as Home Minister in the second Matsukata cabinet. <References> Aisuke Kabayama, "My Father, Sukenori Kabayama," "Sukenori Kabayama Diary" (National Diet Library Collection, "Sukenori Kabayama Documents"), Toshiaki Okubo et al., eds., "Japanese History Series 4/Modern Period I"

(Yoshiteru Yamamura)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正11.2.8(1922)
生年：天保8.11.12(1837.12.9)
明治大正期の軍人,政治家。薩摩(鹿児島)藩士橋口与三次の3男。樺山家へ養子入り。薩英・戊辰両戦争を経て,陸軍に出仕し少佐に任官。明治7(1874)年台湾出兵に従い,西南戦争では熊本鎮台参謀長を務める。14年陸軍少将に進み,警視総監となり,激化する自由民権運動に対した。16年12月8日,鹿鳴館のパーティーで同郷の実力者西郷従道から密かに海軍大輔への転任を要請され,同13日に就任。17年海軍少将に進み,海軍省軍事部の設立など海軍制度の構築に尽力する。内閣制度発足後,19年から23年まで西郷海相の下で次官を務め,次いで第1次山県有朋,第1次松方正義両内閣の海相として大規模な海軍拡張を要求。24年12月の第2議会で,海軍拡張に反対するいわゆる民党に対して,「薩長政府トカ何政府トカ言ッテモ今日国ノ此安寧ヲ保チ,四千万ノ生霊ニ関係セズ,安全ヲ保ッタカト云フコトハ,誰ノ功力デアル」と政府の正統性を主張,衆議院解散の引き金となった。この演説は「蛮勇演説」として知られる。25年河野敏鎌内相の選挙干渉善後措置に,陸相高島鞆之助と共に反対,第1次松方内閣総辞職の直接の契機をなした。日清戦争開戦時に海軍軍令部長に就任。28年大将に進み,初代台湾総督として台湾各地の鎮定に当たったが,軍人,作業員らに数多くの死者を出す。29年第2次松方内閣の内相を務めた。<参考文献>樺山愛輔『父樺山資紀』,「樺山資紀日記」(国会図書館蔵『樺山資紀文書』),大久保利謙他編『日本歴史大系4/近代Ⅰ』

(山村義照)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Kabbalah; Kabala

>>: Kabayama ruins