Kijuro Shidehara

Politician and diplomat. Born in Osaka Prefecture on August 11, 1872. Graduated from the Department of English Law at the Imperial University of Tokyo Law School in 1895 (Meiji 28). Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the following year and worked at consulates in Korea, the UK, and other countries. In 1903 (Meiji 36), he married Masako, the younger sister of Iwasaki Hisaya, and became the son-in-law of Mitsubishi's financial conglomerate and brother-in-law of Kato Takaaki. Became Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1915 (Taisho 4), and served as ambassador to the United States in 1919 and plenipotentiary at the Washington Naval Conference in 1921. In 1924, he became foreign minister in the Kato Takaaki cabinet. Although he did not belong to any political party, he served as foreign minister in the first Wakatsuki Reijiro Kenseikai, Hamaguchi Osachi, and second Wakatsuki Minseito cabinets, except for the Tanaka Giichi Seiyukai cabinet. He promoted cooperative diplomacy with both Britain and the United States, known as Shidehara diplomacy. His policy was characterized by a policy of non-interference in China's internal affairs, which avoided stimulating Chinese nationalism and maintained and expanded Japan's economic interests in China. The Seiyukai and the Army, which advocated special interests in Manchuria and Mongolia and advocated a hard-line policy toward China in the name of protecting Japanese residents, criticized Shidehara's policy as "weak diplomacy," but in 1930 (Showa 5), ​​he concluded a customs agreement with China and the London Naval Treaty. When a right-winger who had a grudge against the latter shot and seriously injured Prime Minister Hamaguchi, Shidehara became acting Prime Minister. In April 1931, he remained in the position of Foreign Minister in the second Wakatsuki Cabinet, but he retired from politics at the end of the same year after failing to handle the Manchurian Incident that occurred in September, and he did not hold any important positions during World War II. After the war, he returned to politics in October 1945 (Showa 20) as the successor Prime Minister to the Higashikuni Naruhiko Cabinet due to his pro-British and pro-American foreign relations, and worked to protect the Emperor System, including drafting the Emperor's Humanity Declaration, and was present during the process of drafting the Japanese Constitution. He was only able to respond too late to the series of democratization policies implemented by the occupying forces. He tried to stay in power after the general election in April 1946, but the Four-Party Joint Committee to Overthrow the Shidehara Cabinet was formed, which led to his resignation. After the first Yoshida Shigeru cabinet was formed, he became the president of the Progressive Party, and won a seat in the House of Representatives for the first time in the general election of 1947.He subsequently served as the chief advisor to the Democratic Party and the Democratic Liberal Party, and in February 1949 he became Speaker of the House of Representatives, but died while in office on March 10, 1951.

[Akira Miyazaki]

"Fifty Years of Diplomacy, by Shidehara Kijuro (1951, Yomiuri Shimbun)" ▽ "Shidehara Kijuro, compiled and published by the Shidehara Peace Foundation (1955)" ▽ "Shidehara Kijuro, by Ujita Naoyoshi (1958, Jiji Press)" ▽ "Shidehara Kijuro and Twentieth-Century Japan: Diplomacy and Democracy, by Hattori Ryuji (2006, Yuhikaku)" ▽ "Shidehara Kijuro and His Times, by Okazaki Hisahiko (PHP Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

政治家、外交官。明治5年8月11日大阪府生まれ。1895年（明治28）帝国大学法科大学英法科を卒業。翌年外務省に入り、朝鮮、イギリスなどの領事館に在勤。1903年（明治36）岩崎久弥(いわさきひさや)の妹雅子(まさこ)と結婚、三菱(みつびし)財閥の女婿かつ加藤高明(かとうたかあき)の義弟となる。1915年（大正4）外務次官となり、1919年駐米大使、1921年にはワシントン軍縮会議の全権として手腕を振るう。1924年加藤高明内閣の外相に就任、彼自身は政党に所属しなかったものの、以後田中義一(たなかぎいち)政友会内閣時代を除いて、第一次若槻礼次郎(わかつきれいじろう)憲政会、浜口雄幸(はまぐちおさち)、第二次若槻民政党各内閣の外相を歴任、イギリス・アメリカ両国との協調外交、いわゆる幣原外交を推進した。その特徴は中国への内政不干渉主義であり、それによって中国ナショナリズムを刺激することを避け、日本の中国での経済的権益を維持、拡大することにあった。満蒙(まんもう)特殊権益論を唱え、在留邦人の保護を名目に対支強硬政策を主張する政友会、陸軍などは「幣原軟弱外交」として非難したが、1930年（昭和5）中国との関税協定、ロンドン海軍軍縮条約を締結した。後者に反感をもつ右翼が浜口首相を狙撃(そげき)し重傷を負わすと、幣原が首相代理となった。1931年4月、第二次若槻内閣の外相に留任したが、9月に起こった満州事変の処理に失敗し同年末政界から退き、以後第二次世界大戦中は要職を占めることがなかった。終戦後、親英米派の外交通ゆえに東久邇稔彦(ひがしくになるひこ)内閣の後継首相として1945年（昭和20）10月政界に復帰、天皇人間宣言の起草など天皇制護持に努め、また日本国憲法制定過程に立ち会った。占領軍による一連の民主化政策には後手後手の対応しかできなかった。1946年4月の総選挙後も政権居座りを図ったが、幣原内閣打倒四党共同委員会がつくられ、総辞職に至った。第一次吉田茂内閣成立後進歩党総裁となり、1947年総選挙で初めて衆議院に議席を獲得、以後民主党・民主自由党の最高顧問、1949年2月には衆議院議長となったが、在任中の昭和26年3月10日死去した。

［宮﨑　章］

『幣原喜重郎著『外交五十年』（1951・読売新聞社）』▽『幣原平和財団編・刊『幣原喜重郎』（1955）』▽『宇治田直義著『幣原喜重郎』（1958・時事通信社）』▽『服部龍二著『幣原喜重郎と二十世紀の日本――外交と民主主義』（2006・有斐閣）』▽『岡崎久彦著『幣原喜重郎とその時代』（PHP文庫）』

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