Mitsuru Toyama

Nationalist and Greater Asianist. Born on April 12, 1855, into the Tsutsui family of Fukuoka feudal lords, he inherited his mother's family name and took the name Toyama. He initially joined the anti-government movement of disgruntled samurai such as the Kyoshisha, and was briefly imprisoned during the Hagi Rebellion. In 1878 (Meiji 11), influenced by Itagaki Taisuke, he threw himself into the civil rights movement, and the following year, together with Hakoda Rokusuke, Hiraoka Kotaro, and others, he founded the Koyosha (later the Kyoaikai) in Fukuoka, and campaigned for the establishment of a national parliament. When the imperial edict was issued in 1881 to establish the national parliament, he renamed the Kyoaikai with Hiraoka and others the Genyosha, and moved away from civil rights to advocate the expansion of national sovereignty and began to advocate Greater Asianism. From then on, as a central figure in the Genyosha, he advocated a hard-line stance on foreign policy. He opposed the Inoue/Okuma treaty revision proposal, promoted election interference under Home Minister Shinagawa Yajiro in the second Matsukata Masayoshi cabinet, provided support to the Tenyukyo and Black Dragon Association, and promoted the annexation of Korea. While he was involved in the Xinhai Revolution, he also protected exiled politicians such as Kim Ok-gyun, Sun Yat-sen, and Bihari Bose, and always worked behind the scenes in the political world to help Japan expand overseas. As a pioneer of the right wing, he had hidden influence in various circles and nurtured many nationalists. He died on October 5, 1944.

[Makio Okabe]

"Modern Japanese Thought Series 9: Asianism" edited by Yoshitaka Takeuchi (1963, Chikuma Shobo) " "Great Asianism and Toyama Mitsuru" by Yoshihiko Ashizu (1972, Nippon Kyobunsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

国家主義者、大アジア主義者。安政(あんせい)2年4月12日、福岡藩士筒井家に生まれ、母の実家を継いで頭山と称す。初め矯志社(きょうししゃ)など不平士族の反政府運動に加わり、萩(はぎ)の乱で一時入獄。1878年（明治11）板垣退助(たいすけ)の影響で民権運動に投じ、翌年箱田六輔(ろくすけ)、平岡浩太郎(こうたろう)らと福岡で向陽社（のち共愛会）を設立、国会開設運動を行った。81年国会開設の詔勅が出ると、平岡らと共愛会を玄洋社と改め、民権論から離れて国権の伸張を主張、大アジア主義を唱えるようになった。以後、玄洋社の中心人物として対外強硬論を主張。井上・大隈(おおくま)の条約改正案への反対、第二次松方正義(まつかたまさよし)内閣の内相品川弥二郎(やじろう)のもとでの選挙干渉の推進、天佑侠(てんゆうきょう)や黒竜会への援助、韓国併合の促進などに動いた。辛亥(しんがい)革命に関与する一方、金玉均(きんぎょくきん)、孫文(そんぶん)、ビハリ・ボースなどの亡命政治家を保護、つねに政界の裏面で日本の対外進出のために画策を続けた。右翼の草分け的存在として各界に隠然たる勢力をもち、多くの国家主義者を育てた。昭和19年10月5日没。

［岡部牧夫］

『竹内好編『現代日本思想大系9　アジア主義』（1963・筑摩書房）』▽『葦津珍彦著『大アジア主義と頭山満』（1972・日本教文社）』

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