Suzuki Kisaburo

Judicial bureaucrat and politician. Born on October 11, 1867, in Musashi Province (Kanagawa Prefecture) as the second son of Kawashima Tomiemon, he was later adopted by Suzuki Yoshitaka. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University, he became a judge in 1893 (Meiji 26), and served as a judge at the Tokyo Court of Appeals, a judge at the Supreme Court, and the chief judge of the Tokyo District Court before being transferred to a prosecutor. He then served as the Director of the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, a prosecutor at the Supreme Court, the Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, and Vice Minister of Justice, before being appointed by Imperial decree to the House of Peers in 1920 (Taisho 9). He was appointed Prosecutor General in 1921 and Minister of Justice in the Kiyoura Keigo Cabinet in 1924. In 1927 (Showa 2), he became Minister of the Interior in the Tanaka Giichi Cabinet, and schemed to expand the Special Higher Police and strengthen the Peace Preservation Law system. In 1928, he carried out a large-scale crackdown on the Communist Party following the March 15 Incident and revised the Peace Preservation Law. On the other hand, he blatantly interfered in the first general election, but was held accountable in the Diet and resigned as Minister of the Interior. In 1931, he became Minister of Justice and then Minister of the Interior in the Inukai Tsuyoshi Cabinet. In 1932, after Inukai was assassinated in the May 15 Incident, he became the seventh president of the Seiyukai Party. As the leader of the largest party with an absolute majority in the Diet, he attempted to take power, but failed. Instead, he intensified internal conflict within the party, and tried to ride the wave of fascism, such as submitting a resolution to clarify the national polity in 1935. He lost in the 1936 general election. He was reinstated as a member of the House of Peers, but was abandoned by the government and factional fighting within the party intensified, leading to his resignation as president in 1937 (he remained nominal president until the party split in 1940, as a successor had not yet been decided). Ichiro Hatoyama is his brother-in-law.

[Awaya Kentaro]

"Suzuki Kisaburo" (1945), edited and published by the Suzuki Kisaburo Biography Editorial Committee

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

司法官僚、政治家。慶応(けいおう)3年10月11日、川島富右衛門の二男として武蔵(むさし)国（神奈川県）に生まれ、のち鈴木慈孝の養嗣子(ようしし)となる。東京帝国大学法科大学卒業後、1893年（明治26）判事となり、東京控訴院判事、大審院判事、東京地裁所長を歴任し検事に転任。その後、司法省刑事局長、大審院検事、司法省法務局長、司法次官を経て1920年（大正9）貴族院議員に勅選され、1921年検事総長、1924年清浦奎吾(きようらけいご)内閣の法相に就任。1927年（昭和2）田中義一(たなかぎいち)内閣の内相となり、特高警察の拡充と治安維持法体制の強化を画策。1928年、三・一五事件による共産党の大検挙、治安維持法の改悪を行った。一方、第1回普通選挙に際しては露骨な選挙干渉を強行したが、議会でその責任を追及されて内相を辞任した。1931年に犬養毅(いぬかいつよし)内閣の法相、さらに内相に就任。1932年、五・一五事件で犬養が暗殺されると政友会第7代総裁となった。議会内で絶対多数を有する第一党の党首として政権獲得を画策したがならず、逆に党内の内紛を激化させ、1935年国体明徴決議案の提出などファッショ化の時流に乗じようとした。1936年総選挙に落選。貴族院議員に復したが、政権に見放されて党内の派閥抗争が激化し、1937年総裁を辞任（後継総裁未決定により、1940年の分裂時まで名目上総裁）。鳩山一郎(はとやまいちろう)は義弟。

［粟屋憲太郎］

『鈴木喜三郎先生伝記編纂会編・刊『鈴木喜三郎』（1945）』

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