Itagaki Taisuke - Itagaki Taisuke

A Meiji politician. Born on April 17, Tempo 8, in Nakajima-cho, under the castle, as the eldest son of Inui Eiroku Masanari, a horse patrolman of the Tosa clan. His childhood name was Inosuke, which he later changed to Taisuke. His given names were Masakata and Muga. In December 1854 (Ansei 1), he was ordered to serve in Edo, but returned to the clan in 1856. In March 1860, his father died of illness, and he inherited the family headship, becoming a horse patrolman with a stipend of 220 koku. In October 1861 (Bunkyu 1), he became a storehouse clerk and was ordered to look after Edo while away from home, as well as to serve the household. In 1862, he became a personal attendant to Yamauchi Toyoshige. From this time on, he began to advocate expulsion of foreigners, but came into conflict with the radical Loyalist Party led by Takechi Zuizan, and in 1865 (Keio 1), he interrogated and executed key members of the Loyalist Party, including Takechi, as the chief inspector of the clan office together with Goto Shojiro and others. In May 1867, on his way back to the domain from Edo, he met with Saigo Takamori in Kyoto through the mediation of Nakaoka Shintaro, and confirmed the Satsuma-Tosa alliance to overthrow the shogunate, and began preparations to raise an army after returning to the domain.

When the Boshin War broke out in January 1868 (Keio 4), Itagaki, as battalion commander, left Kochi on the 13th with 1,045 Tosa clan soldiers, including military men, in pursuit of the Kawanoe, Marugame, and Takamatsu clans, arriving in Kyoto on the 28th. He immediately became a staff officer of the Tosando vanguard government office and led 600 clan soldiers into battle. It was from this time that he took the name Itagaki Taisuke. He pursued the Ogaki, Shinshu, Kofu, Hachioji, Utsunomiya, Wakamatsu, and Aizu clans, and returned to the clan in November. In 1869 (Meiji 2), he reformed the clan government as the chief councilor of the clan, and in 1871 he was appointed councilor to the new government. In October 1873, he argued for the Seikanron (conquest of Korea) with Saigo and others, but was defeated and resigned from his councilorship. In January 1874, he formed the Patriotic Public Party with Goto Shojiro and others, submitted a petition to the government for the establishment of a popularly elected parliament, and embarked on the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. In March 1875, he became a government councillor again, but resigned in October due to lack of discussion. He then devoted himself to the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, and was recommended as Prime Minister of the Liberal Party when it was founded in October 1881. In April 1882, he was involved in a violent incident in Gifu while campaigning. He toured Europe from November of that year to June of the following year. Around the time of his return to Japan, he began to consider dissolving the Liberal Party, and in October 1884, after discussing it with Liberal Party executives, he finally dissolved the party. In May 1887, he was made a count, but repeatedly refused, but was not accepted, and was awarded the peerage in July. In August of the same year, he submitted a petition to the Emperor on matters including the establishment of a national parliament, freedom of speech, rest for the civilian workforce, expansion of the navy, and treaty revision, and then retired to Kochi.

When Goto Shojiro, the leader of the Daido Unity Movement, suddenly joined the Kuroda Kiyotaka cabinet in March 1889 (Meiji 22), and the Daido Unity Movement fell into a state of division due to a fierce conflict between those in favor and those against his inclusion in the cabinet, Itagaki was persuaded by Goto and Kono Hironaka to go to Tokyo and organize the Aikoku Koto Party in May 1890 to unite the Daido faction. In September of the same year, thanks to the efforts of Itagaki and others, the Aikoku Koto Party, the Liberal Party, and the Daido Club merged to form the Constitutional Liberal Party, which launched an attack on the government under the slogan of resting the people and cutting government expenses, but Itagaki left the party in February 1891, during the opening of the first Diet, feeling responsible for the fact that Tosa faction lawmakers had been bribed by the government. In March he rejoined the party and became its Prime Minister, and in 1895 he strengthened his cooperative relationship with the cabinet of Ito Hirobumi, becoming Minister of the Interior in April 1896. In September he resigned from his position to devote himself to party activities, and in 1898 he became Minister of the Interior again under the Constitutional Party cabinet, but resigned in October. He then retired from political activities to focus on social issues, organizing the Society for Reform of Manners and Customs and founding the party journal "Yuai." In 1907 (Meiji 40) he published "A Theory of a Peerage in a Lifetime," but died on July 16, 1919, at the age of 83. He was awarded the rank of Junior First Rank.

[Yasushi Goto]

"The History of Taisuke Itagaki" by Hisao Itoya (1974, Shimizu Shoin)" "The Intangible Taisuke Itagaki" by Michio Hirao (1975, Kochi Shimbun)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治の政治家。天保(てんぽう)8年4月17日、土佐藩馬廻役(うままわりやく)乾栄六正成(いぬいえいろくまさなり)の長男として城下中島町に生まれる。幼名猪之助(いのすけ)、のち退助と改める。諱(いみな)は正形(まさかた)、無形と号す。1854年（安政1）12月江戸勤番を命じられたが、1856年帰藩。1860年3月父病没のため家督を相続、220石馬廻役となる。1861年（文久1）10月御納戸方(おなんどかた)となり江戸留守ならびに御内用役(おそばようやく)を命じられる。1862年には山内容堂の御側用役となる。このころから攘夷(じょうい)論を唱え始めたが、武市瑞山(たけちずいざん)らの急進的な勤王党とは対立し、1865年（慶応1）には後藤象二郎(ごとうしょうじろう)らとともに藩庁の大監察として武市ら勤王党員のおもだった者を糾問し処刑した。1867年5月、江戸からの帰藩の途中に京都で、中岡慎太郎の仲介で西郷隆盛(さいごうたかもり)と会見して薩土(さつど)討幕同盟を確約し、帰藩後挙兵の準備にとりかかった。

　1868年（慶応4）1月戊辰戦争(ぼしんせんそう)が始まるや、板垣は大隊司令として軍夫まで含めると1045人の土佐藩兵迅衝隊(じんしょうたい)を率いて13日に高知を出発し、川之江、丸亀、高松諸藩を追討し、28日に京都に到着した。そしてただちに東山道先鋒(せんぽう)総督府参謀となり、600の藩兵を率いて出陣した。板垣退助と名のったのはこのときからである。大垣、信州、甲府、八王子、宇都宮、若松、会津を追討して11月に帰藩。1869年（明治2）藩の大参事として藩政改革を行い、1871年新政府の参議に任ぜられる。1873年10月に西郷らと征韓論を主張して敗れて参議を辞した。1874年1月には後藤象二郎らと愛国公党を組織して民撰(みんせん)議院設立建白書を政府に提出し、自由民権運動に乗り出した。1875年3月ふたたび政府参議となったが、議あわず10月には辞職した。その後は自由民権運動に挺身(ていしん)し、1881年10月結党の自由党総理に推され、1882年4月には遊説中の岐阜で凶変にあった。この年11月から翌年6月まで欧州を視察。帰国前後から自由党解散の意向をもち始め、1884年10月には自由党幹部と合議のうえ、ついに自由党解散を行った。1887年5月伯爵に叙せられ、再三固辞したが許されず、7月に叙爵。同年8月には国会開設、言論自由、民力休養、海軍拡張、条約改正などに関する意見書を天皇に上奏し、高知に引きこもった。

　大同団結運動の首唱者後藤象二郎が1889年（明治22）3月に突如黒田清隆(くろだきよたか)内閣に入閣するに及んで、入閣賛成派と反対派が激しく対立して大同団結運動が分裂状態に陥ったとき、板垣は後藤や河野広中(こうのひろなか)に説得されて上京し、1890年5月に愛国公党を組織して大同派の団結を図った。同年9月には板垣らの努力で愛国公党、自由党、大同倶楽部(くらぶ)は合同し、立憲自由党を結党して民力休養、政費節減を掲げて政府攻撃に乗り出したが、板垣は第一議会開会中の1891年2月、土佐派議員が政府に買収された責任を感じて離党した。3月には復党して党総理となり、1895年には伊藤博文(いとうひろぶみ)内閣との協力関係を進めて1896年4月内務大臣となる。9月に内相を辞して党活動に専念し、1898年憲政党内閣のもとでふたたび内務大臣となったが10月に辞職した。その後政治活動から身を引いて社会問題に専心して風俗改良会を組織し、機関誌『友愛』を創刊した。1907年（明治40）には『一代華族論』を公表したりしたが、大正8年7月16日死去。享年83歳。従(じゅ)一位に叙せられる。

［後藤　靖］

『絲屋寿雄著『史伝板垣退助』（1974・清水書院）』▽『平尾道雄著『無形板垣退助』（1975・高知新聞社）』

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