Prince Saionji - Prince Saionji

A modern politician and elder statesman. Born on October 23, 1859, as the second son of Tokudaiji Kinzumi, an aristocrat in Kyoto. His elder brother Sanenori served as the Minister of the Interior and Grand Chamberlain to Emperor Meiji for a long time, while his younger brother Tomozumi inherited the Sumitomo family. His childhood name was Yoshimaru, and he took the name Kinmochi at around the age of three. His pen name was Touan. At the age of four, he inherited the Saionji family. He served as a close attendant to Emperor Komei. He was an advisor to the Restoration of Imperial Rule, and his insight was praised by Iwakura Tomomi. In 1868 (Meiji 1), he became Governor-General of the San'in region and led the various feudal domains to submit to the Imperial Court. Later, he participated in the wars of Hokuriku and Aizu as a Northern Province Pacifier and Chief Staff Officer of the Echigoguchi Aizu Expedition. He studied in France from 1871, entered the Sorbonne, studied under legal scholar Acollas, became acquainted with Clemenceau and Nakae Chomin, and acquired a liberal ideology before returning to Japan in 1880. In 1881, he founded the Toyo Jiyu Shinbun with Chomin and others, became its president, and played a part in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, but retired by imperial order. The following year, in 1882, he accompanied Ito Hirobumi on his constitutional research trip to Europe, where he investigated the imperial household system. After returning to Japan, he was made a marquis in 1884, minister to Austria in 1885, and minister to Germany and Belgium in 1887. He returned to Japan in 1891 and became President of the Awards and Decorations Bureau, Vice President of the Law Code Investigation Committee in 1893, Vice Speaker of the House of Peers in the same year, and Privy Councillor and President of the Awards and Decorations Bureau in 1894. In the same year, he became Minister of Education in the second Ito Hirobumi cabinet, later also Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in 1898 he became Minister of Education in the third Ito cabinet, and in October 1900 (Meiji 33), he became President of the Privy Council. In the same year, he worked hard to establish Ito's Rikken Seiyukai party, and when the fourth Ito cabinet was formed in October, he served as acting prime minister due to the prime minister's illness, and continued to serve as acting prime minister even after Ito submitted his resignation, and was subsequently recommended by Ito to be his successor, but he declined. When Ito became President of the Privy Council in July 1903, he became the second president of the Seiyukai party. Assisted by Matsuda Masahisa and Hara Takashi, he worked to revive the shaken Seiyukai party, and expressed his support for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty despite nationwide opposition. In January 1906 and August 1911, he formed the Saionji Cabinet to succeed the Katsura Taro Cabinet, ushering in the so-called Keien era. During the Movement for the Protection of Constitutional Government, he was ordered by the Emperor to pacify the Seiyukai party, but was unsuccessful, and feeling responsible, he resigned as president. He was later asked to reinstate his position, but he declined, and in 1914 (Taisho 3), he recommended Hara Takashi for president. As president and prime minister, Saionji was somewhat ignorant of internal party affairs and lacked leadership and decisiveness, so it can be said that he carried out his duties thanks to his family background, popularity, and the assistance of Masahisa Matsuda and Takashi Hara. After that, he became a member of the Genro (elder statesmen) and traveled to Europe as plenipotentiary for the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, but did not engage in any notable activities.

He became a duke in 1920. After the deaths of Yamagata Aritomo and then Matsukata Masayoshi, he became the last genro and held full power to petition the prime minister for succession. He is famous for the so-called "Saionji (Okitsu) pilgrimage," where important people would visit Saionji to inquire about his intentions. During this time, from the 1924 Cabinet of the Three Protectors of the Constitution until 1932 (Showa 7), he established the practice of the so-called "normal path of constitutional government," and maintained the golden age of party cabinets. However, the authority of political parties gradually declined, and after the May 15 Incident, instead of firmly suppressing the military's tyranny, he viewed it as a temporary change in circumstances, and appointed Makoto Saito and then Keisuke Okada as prime ministers to suppress the wave of fascism and restore the party cabinet, but he was unsuccessful. Instead, he was seen by the military and right wing as the hidden leader of the Imperial Court group. He also placed his hopes in Fumimaro Konoe and Koichi Kido, but was unsuccessful, and the method of recommending a successor to the prime minister gradually changed to consultations with senior vassals, centered around the Minister of the Interior. He died at the age of 92 at his villa in Okitsu on November 24, 1940, while worrying about fascism, and was given a state funeral. His daughter Shinko adopted Hachiro of the Mori family as his successor. Saionji was known as a man of refined culture, and in contrast to Taro Katsura, he was known as a man of renunciation. Zagyoso in Okitsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, is under the management of Meiji Village, and Seifuso in Kyoto is under the management of Kyoto University.

[Yamamoto Shiro]

"The Life of Prince Saionji, by Shirayanagi Shuko (1929, Nippon Hyoronsha)" ▽ "Prince Toan, by Takekoshi Yosaburo (1930, Sobunkaku)" ▽ "The Complete Works of Koizumi Sanshin, Volume 2: Essays on Prince Saionji, by Koizumi Sakutaro (1939, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Prince Saionji and the Political Situation, by Harada Kumao, 8 volumes and 1 supplementary volume (1950-1952, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "The Political Situation of Modern Japan and Prince Saionji, by Nakagawa Kojuro, edited by Goto Yasushi and Suzuki Ryo (1987, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "The Life of Prince Saionji, edited by the Ritsumeikan University Prince Saionji Biography Editorial Committee, 4 volumes and 2 supplementary volumes (1990-1997, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Saionji Kinmochi and the Meiji Era Writers" by Tadashi Takahashi (2002, Fuji Publishing)" ▽ "Saionji Kinmochi: The Last Elder Statesman " by Tadakuma Iwai (Iwanami Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代の政治家、元老。嘉永(かえい)2年10月23日、京都の公家(くげ)、徳大寺公純(とくだいじきんずみ)の次男として生まれる。兄実則(さねのり)は長く内大臣、侍従長として明治天皇に近侍、弟友純(ともずみ)は住友家を継ぐ。幼名美丸(よしまる)、3歳ごろ公望を称す。号は陶庵(とうあん)。4歳のとき西園寺家を継ぐ。孝明(こうめい)天皇に近侍。王政復古の際参与(さんよ)、その識見は岩倉具視(いわくらともみ)をして賞賛せしめた。1868年（明治1）山陰道鎮撫総督(ちんぶそうとく)となり諸藩を朝廷に帰順させ、のち北国鎮撫使、会津征討越後口(えちごぐち)大参謀などとして北陸、会津の戦争に参加した。1871年よりフランスに留学、ソルボンヌ大学に入り、法学者アコラスに師事し、クレマンソーや中江兆民(なかえちょうみん)らと交遊、自由思想を身につけ1880年帰国。1881年兆民らと『東洋自由新聞』を創刊、社長となり自由民権運動の一翼を担ったが、勅命により退職した。翌1882年伊藤博文(いとうひろぶみ)の憲法調査に随行渡欧、皇室制度の調査にあたる。帰国後1884年侯爵、1885年オーストリア公使、1887年ドイツ公使兼ベルギー公使。1891年帰国し賞勲局総裁、1893年法典調査会副総裁、同年貴族院副議長、1894年枢密顧問官、賞勲局総裁。同年第二次伊藤博文内閣の文相、のち外相を兼ね、1898年第三次伊藤内閣の文相、1900年（明治33）10月枢密院議長となる。同年伊藤の立憲政友会創立に尽力し、10月第四次伊藤内閣成立時は首相病気のため首相臨時代理、伊藤の辞表提出後も臨時代理兼任首相、ついで伊藤から後継首班に推されたが謝絶。1903年7月伊藤が枢密院議長となると第2代政友会総裁となり、松田正久(まつだまさひさ)、原敬(はらたかし)の補佐を受け、動揺する政友会の復興に努力し、ポーツマス講和条約には全国的反対に抗して賛意を表した。1906年1月と1911年8月に桂太郎(かつらたろう)内閣の後を受け西園寺内閣を組織し、いわゆる桂園(けいえん)時代を現出した。憲政擁護運動では天皇より政友会鎮撫の沙汰(さた)を受けたが成功せず、責任を感じて総裁辞任。事後復職を求められたが謝絶し、1914年（大正3）原敬を総裁に推した。総裁、首相としての西園寺は、やや党内事情に暗く、また指導力、決断力においても欠けるところがあり、門地、声望と松田正久、原敬の補佐により任務を遂行したといえよう。以後は元老の一員となり、1919年パリ講和会議の全権として渡欧したが、目だった活動はなかった。

　1920年公爵。山県有朋(やまがたありとも)、ついで松方正義(まつかたまさよし)の死去により、最後の元老として後継首班奏請の全権を握った。要人が西園寺の意向を打診するため訪れた、いわゆる「西園寺（興津(おきつ)）詣(もう)で」は有名。この間1924年の護憲三派内閣以後1932年（昭和7）までいわゆる「憲政の常道」の慣行をつくり、政党内閣の黄金時代を維持した。しかし政党の権威はしだいに失墜し、五・一五事件以後軍部の進出に対してもその横暴を断固抑えるのではなく、一時の変調とみなし、斎藤実(さいとうまこと)、ついで岡田啓介(おかだけいすけ)を首相としてファッショ化の波を抑え、政党内閣の復活を図ろうとしたが成功せず、逆に軍部や右翼によって宮中グループの隠然たる大御所と目された。また近衛文麿(このえふみまろ)や木戸幸一(きどこういち)らに希望を託したが成功せず、後継首班推薦の方式もしだいに内大臣を中心とした重臣との協議に切り換え、ファッショ化を憂いつつ92歳の高齢をもって昭和15年11月24日、興津の別邸で死去、国葬をもって遇せられた。娘のしん子に養嗣子(ようしし)として迎えた毛利家の八郎が後を継いだ。西園寺は高雅な文化人として、また桂太郎と対比して脱俗の人として知られた。静岡県興津の坐漁荘(ざぎょそう)は明治村に、京都の清風荘は京都大学の管理下にある。

［山本四郎］

『白柳秀湖著『西園寺公望伝』（1929・日本評論社）』▽『竹越与三郎著『陶庵公』（1930・叢文閣）』▽『小泉策太郎著『小泉三申全集第2巻　随筆西園寺公』（1939・岩波書店）』▽『原田熊雄述『西園寺公と政局』8巻・別巻1（1950～1952・岩波書店）』▽『中川小十郎著、後藤靖・鈴木良校訂『近代日本の政局と西園寺公望』（1987・吉川弘文館）』▽『立命館大学西園寺公望伝編纂委員会編『西園寺公望伝』4巻・別巻2（1990～1997・岩波書店）』▽『高橋正著『西園寺公望と明治の文人たち』（2002・不二出版）』▽『御厨貴監修『歴代総理大臣伝記叢書7　西園寺公望』（2005・ゆまに書房）』▽『岩井忠熊著『西園寺公望――最後の元老』（岩波新書）』

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