Yoshikazu Tanaka

Army officer and politician. Born on June 22, 1st year of Genji, to a family of low-ranking samurai in the Choshu domain. In 1883 (Meiji 16), he joined the Army Training Corps, graduated from the Army Academy and the Army War College, and served in the Sino-Japanese War. After the war, he joined the General Staff and was dispatched to Russia. During the Russo-Japanese War, he actively promoted the outbreak of hostilities, became a staff officer in the Manchuria Army, and built a deep relationship with Zhang Zuolin, who he described as "my younger brother." In 1906 (Meiji 39), he was ordered by Yamagata Aritomo to draft the "Imperial National Defense Policy," and thereafter served as Chief of the Military Affairs Division and Chief of the Military Affairs Bureau, and demonstrated his skills at the heart of military administration, such as in organizing the Imperial Veterans Association and establishing two additional divisions. In 1915 (Taisho 4), he became a lieutenant general and vice chief of staff, and in 1918 he became Minister of War in the Hara Takashi cabinet, where he carried out the Siberian Intervention, and was made a baron in 1920 and a general in 1921, but resigned from his position in the same year. In 1923 he became Minister of War again in the second Yamamoto Gonbei cabinet, and even after his resignation he played an important role in military and political circles as the head of the Choshu faction of the army after the death of Yamagata, and upon his retirement in April 1925 he succeeded Takahashi Korekiyo as president of the Rikken Seiyukai party, but his credibility was damaged by a scandal involving the embezzlement of army secret funds. In April 1927 (Showa 2), he formed the Seiyukai Cabinet, and also served as Foreign Minister, promoting "active" policies towards China such as the Shandong Dispatch, the Eastern Conference, and the Jinan Incident, while also exerting pressure on the nation in domestic affairs, such as interference in the first general election, the March 15 Incident, the revision of the Peace Preservation Law by emergency imperial decree, and the April 16 Incident, earning him a bad reputation for "dark politics." He was held responsible for the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, and was reprimanded by the Emperor for going back on his word. He resigned en masse in July 1929, and suddenly passed away on September 28.

[Keiichi Eguchi]

"Tanaka Giichi Biography" edited by Takakura Tetsuichi (1981, Hara Shobo)" ▽ "Tanaka Giichi Biography" by Tasaki Suematsu (1981, Institute for Peace Strategy Research) ▽ "Tanaka Giichi - Pioneer of the Total War Nation" by Kokatsu Atsushi (2009, Fuyo Shobo Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

陸軍軍人、政治家。元治(げんじ)1年6月22日、長州藩下級藩士の家に生まれる。1883年（明治16）陸軍教導団に入り、陸軍士官学校、陸軍大学校を卒業、日清(にっしん)戦争に出征した。戦後は参謀本部に入り、ロシアに派遣され、日露戦争に際しては開戦を積極的に促進、満州軍参謀となり、張作霖(ちょうさくりん)との間に「俺(おれ)が弟」と称するような深い関係をつくった。1906年（明治39）山県有朋(やまがたありとも)の命で「帝国国防方針」の原案を作成、以後軍事課長、軍務局長を歴任し、帝国在郷軍人会の組織、2個師団の増設などにあたり、軍政の中枢にあって手腕を発揮した。1915年（大正4）中将、参謀次長、1918年原敬(はらたかし)内閣の陸相に就任、シベリア出兵を遂行し、1920年男爵、1921年大将となったが、同年陸相を辞した。1923年第二次山本権兵衛(やまもとごんべえ)内閣でふたたび陸相となり、辞職後も山県亡きあとの陸軍長州閥の総帥として軍政界に重きをなし、1925年4月退役と同時に高橋是清(たかはしこれきよ)の後を継いで立憲政友会総裁に就任したが、陸軍機密費横領のスキャンダルで信望を損なった。1927年（昭和2）4月政友会内閣をつくり、外相を兼ね、山東(さんとう)出兵、東方会議、済南事件(さいなんじけん)などの対中国「積極」政策を推進、内政でも第1回普選への干渉、三・一五事件、緊急勅令による治安維持法改正、四・一六事件などの強圧を重ね、「暗黒政治」の悪評を被った。張作霖爆殺事件の責任を追及され、天皇に食言をとがめられ、1929年7月総辞職、9月28日急逝した。

［江口圭一］

『高倉徹一編『田中義一伝記』（1981・原書房）』▽『田崎末松著『評伝田中義一』（1981・平和戦略綜合研究所）』▽『纐纈厚著『田中義一――総力戦国家の先導者』（2009・芙蓉書房出版）』

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