Sanjo Sanetomi

A nobleman, Grand Minister of State, and politician in the late Edo and early Meiji periods. His childhood name was Fukumaro. He was born on February 7, Tempo 8, as the fourth son of Sanjo Sanetsumu. His family status was second only to the Gosekke (Five Regent Houses). In 1854 (Ansei 1), he was promoted to the rank of Jugoinojo, came of age, and entered the service as a chamberlain. His father Sanetsumu was at the center of imperial court politics, serving as Gisou (Councillor) and Naidaijin (Minister of the Interior), and was active in politics at the end of the Edo period as a nobleman in the anti-foreign faction. Sanetomi also followed in his father's footsteps and engaged in political activities as a hard-line Sonno Joi court noble, and in 1862 (Bunkyu 2), he impeached and campaigned for the expulsion of nobles who supported the union of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, such as Chigusa Arifumi and Iwakura Tomomi, together with Anegakoji Kintomo. In the same year, he was promoted to Gon Chunagon and then Gisou, and in October, he traveled to Edo as an imperial envoy together with Anegakoji Kintomo to convey and urge the Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi to expel the Imperial Court's orders to expel foreigners, and also requested improvements to the treatment of imperial envoys. In December, he was appointed as the newly established Kokuji Goyogakari (Office of State Affairs). During the heyday of the Sonno Joi movement from 1862 to 1863, he was a representative Sonno Joi court noble, allied with the Sonno Joi faction of the Choshu domain, and was involved in planning the expedition to expel foreigners and the Imperial Visit to Yamato. However, in 1863, the "Coup of August 18, 1863" saw a complete change in the Imperial Council, and the Joi faction was suspended from attending court and stripped of their official ranks. Sanetomi and seven other Joi faction members were banished from Kyoto and fled to the Choshu domain (the "Seven Nobles' Fall"). In January 1865 (Genji 2), he was transferred from Choshu to Dazaifu, but as a result of the Imperial Restoration coup on December 9, 1867 (Keio 3), he was restored to his official rank and allowed to enter Kyoto, and entered Kyoto on December 27, immediately taking up an important post in the new government's council. In July 1869 (Meiji 2), he became Minister of the Right, and in July 1871, he became Grand Minister of State, becoming the highest official in the Meiji government. With the implementation of the cabinet system in 1885, he became Minister of the Interior, and when the Kuroda Kiyotaka cabinet collapsed in 1889, he briefly served as Prime Minister. During this time, he also became head of the Peers' Hall in 1883. Even after real political power shifted to bureaucrats from various domains around the time of the abolition of the feudal domains, he continued to represent the nobles and feudal lords and played the role of mediator in various conflicts. However, his political decision-making was weak, and during the 1873 debate over the expedition to Korea, he was caught between the pro-Korean and anti-Korean factions, and he was so distressed that he fell ill with a fever and was bedridden. He died on February 18, 1891. Duke. His grave is at Gokokuji Temple in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.

[Masaru Sasaki]

"Chronology of Lord Sanjo Sanetomi" (1969, Munetaka Shobo) " Reprint of the Sanjo Family Documents" (1972, University of Tokyo Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末・明治前期の公卿(くぎょう)、太政(だじょう)大臣、政治家。幼名福麿。天保(てんぽう)8年2月7日、三条実万(さねつむ)の第4子として生まれる。家格は五摂家(ごせっけ)に次ぐ九清華(きゅうせいが)の一家。1854年（安政1）従(じゅ)五位上に叙せられ元服、侍従となり出仕。父実万は議奏(ぎそう)、内大臣などを歴任し朝廷政治の中枢にあり、攘夷派(じょういは)公卿として幕末政治に活躍した。実美も父の意を継ぎ、尊攘強硬派公卿として政治運動を展開、1862年（文久2）には千種有文(ちぐさありふみ)、岩倉具視(いわくらともみ)ら公武合体派の公卿を弾劾し排斥運動を姉小路公知(あねがこうじきんとも)らと行った。同年権中納言(ごんちゅうなごん)ついで議奏に昇進、10月には将軍徳川家茂(いえもち)に対する攘夷の朝旨伝達と督促のため、姉小路公知とともに勅使として江戸に赴き、かつ朝使の待遇改善などの要求もあわせて行った。12月新設の国事御用掛。1862年から1863年にかけて尊攘運動の最盛期に、尊攘派公卿の代表的立場を占め、長州藩尊攘派と結び、攘夷親征、大和行幸(やまとぎょうこう)などの画策にあたった。しかし1863年「文久三年八月十八日の政変」で朝議が一変し、攘夷派は参朝停止、官位剥奪(はくだつ)となり、実美ら7人の攘夷派は京都を追放され長州藩に逃れた（七卿落(しちきょうおち)）。1865年（元治2）1月長州から大宰府(だざいふ)に移されたが、1867年（慶応3）12月9日の王政復古クーデターの結果、官位復旧、入京許可となり、12月27日入京、即日新政府の議定(ぎじょう)の要職についた。1869年（明治2）7月右大臣、71年7月から太政大臣となり明治政府の最高官となった。1885年内閣制度実施に伴い内大臣に転じ、1889年黒田清隆(くろだきよたか)内閣崩壊の際に一時期内閣総理大臣を兼任した。またこの間1883年には華族会館長となっている。廃藩前後から政治の実権が諸藩出身官僚に移ったあとも、公卿、諸侯層を代表し、種々の対立の調停者としての役割を果たした。しかし政治的決断力は弱く、1873年の征韓論争の際には、征韓派と反対派の対立の間に挟まり、処置に困って煩悶(はんもん)、心痛のあまり発熱して病床につく事態ともなった。明治24年2月18日没。公爵。墓所は東京都文京区の護国寺にある。

［佐々木克］

『『三条実美公年譜』（1969・宗高書房）』▽『『三条家文書』復刻版（1972・東京大学出版会）』

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