Ryutaro Nagai

A political party politician during the Taisho and Showa periods. Born April 16, 1881 in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. After graduating from the Department of Politics and Economics at Waseda University in 1905 (Meiji 38), he studied abroad at Manchester College, Oxford University in England. He began teaching at Waseda University in 1909, lecturing on colonial policy, social policy, classics, and English until 1917 (Taisho 6), while also serving as editor-in-chief of the Shin Nihon, a magazine presided over by Okuma Shigenobu. In 1920, he was elected for the first time as a member of the House of Representatives from his hometown, a member of the Constitutional Party, and on July 8, he gave a speech criticizing the Hara Takashi cabinet, saying, "Lenin in the West, Hara Takashi in the East," for which he was punished. After serving as Counsellor for Foreign Affairs and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, he became Secretary-General of the Rikken Minseito Party in 1931 (Showa 6). He then became the party's leader and served as Minister of Colonial Affairs in the Saito Makoto Cabinet in 1932, Minister of Communications in the first Konoe Fumimaro Cabinet in 1937, and Minister of Communications and Railways in the Abe Nobuyuki Cabinet in 1939. In the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, which was founded in 1940, he was appointed as Permanent General Affairs Officer and Director-General of the East Asia Bureau. He also worked to establish a scholarship system, and became chairman of the Great Japan Scholarship Association when it was founded in 1944. He was a devout Christian and an eloquent speaker, and was a central figure among politicians who graduated from Waseda University. He left behind many books, including "Colonial Genron," before passing away on December 4, 1944.

[Nomaru Sato]

"Nagai Ryutaro Editorial Committee, ed., Nagai Ryutaro (1982, Keiso Shobo)" ▽ "Iwamoto Noritaka, 'Modern Japanese Liberalism: On the Ideals of Kawai Eijiro and Nagai Ryutaro' (1996, Bunrikaku)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正・昭和期の政党政治家。明治14年4月16日石川県金沢に生まれる。同志社、関西(かんせい)学院を経て、1905年（明治38）早稲田(わせだ)大学大学部政治経済学科を卒業後、イギリスのオックスフォード大学マンチェスター・カレッジに留学。1909年より早稲田大学で教鞭(きょうべん)をとり、植民政策、社会政策、名著研究、英語を1917年（大正6）まで講ずるかたわら、大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)主宰の『新日本』主筆として論陣を張った。1920年郷里より憲政会所属衆議院議員に初当選し、7月8日、原敬(はらたかし)内閣を批判して「西にレーニン、東に原敬」との演説を行い、懲罰を受けた。外務参与官、外務次官を経て、1931年（昭和6）立憲民政党幹事長に就任。ついで党代表として翌1932年に斎藤実(まこと)内閣の拓務大臣、1937年に第一次近衛文麿(このえふみまろ)内閣の逓信(ていしん)大臣、1939年に阿部信行(のぶゆき)内閣の逓信大臣兼鉄道大臣を歴任した。1940年発会の大政翼賛会では常任総務、東亜局長などに就任した。また、育英制度の確立に努め、1944年大日本育英会の創立とともに会長となった。熱心なクリスチャンで、雄弁家であり、早稲田大学出身政治家の中心的存在であった。『殖民原論』ほか著書多数を残し、昭和19年12月4日死去。

［佐藤能丸］

『永井柳太郎編纂会編『永井柳太郎』（1982・勁草書房）』▽『岩本典隆著『近代日本のリベラリズム――河合栄治郎と永井柳太郎の理念をめぐって』（1996・文理閣）』

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