Inukai Tsuyoshi - Inukai Tsuyoshi

A political party politician from the Meiji to Showa periods. His pen name was Bokudō. He was born on April 20, 1855, as the second son of the Inukai family, a village headman in Bitchu Province (Okayama Prefecture). In 1868 (Meiji 1), when he was 14, his father died suddenly. At the age of 21, he moved to Tokyo and contributed to the Yubin Hochi Shimbun, studying at Keiō Gijuku with the royalties from his work. In 1877, he was dispatched by the Hochisha to report on the Satsuma Rebellion, and was active as a war correspondent. In 1880, he founded the Tōkaisha with Toyokawa Ryōhei and others, and launched the Tōkai Keizai Shinpō, of which he was editor-in-chief. In 1881, at the recommendation of his senior colleague Yano Fumio, he joined the Statistics Bureau with Ozaki Yukio and others. Due to his relationship at this time, he would be affiliated with Okuma Shigenobu's camp for the next 30 years or so. He retired from the Imperial Court after Okuma's downfall in the Meiji 14th year political upheaval, and in 1882 he participated in the founding of the Constitutional Reform Party and was elected to the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly from Shiba Ward. He would continue his political party activities for the next 50 years. In 1887 he participated in Goto Shojiro's Great Unity Movement, and ran for the first general election in 1890 from Okayama Prefecture and was elected. He was elected in every general election thereafter, 17 times. As political parties came and went, he joined the Progressive Party in 1895, the Constitutional Party and the Constitutional Honto Party in 1898, and the Constitutional National Party in 1910 (Meiji 43). In 1896 he worked hard to secure an alliance between Matsukata Masayoshi and Okuma, realizing the Matsukuma Cabinet, and in 1898 he became Minister of Education in the Kuma-Ichi Cabinet after Ozaki Yukio resigned. Except for these periods, the party he belonged to was always in the opposition, and in the minority. He was active in parliament as one of the forces attacking the clan-based government, and was known as an eloquent speaker. In 1912 (Taisho 1), he took the lead in the first movement to protect the constitution, and together with Yukio Ozaki, he came to be called the "god of constitutional government." He also had a deep interest in China policy, and assisted Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries in seeking asylum, and became the principal of Daido School (Yokohama), an educational institution for the children of Chinese residents. In 1918, he participated in the Provisional Foreign Affairs Research Council established by the Terauchi Masatake cabinet, which marked a turning point in his approach to the government. In 1923, he joined the second Yamamoto Gonbei cabinet, and in 1924, he joined the three-party cabinet to protect the constitution, as Minister of Communications, and worked to realize universal suffrage. Meanwhile, in 1922, he dissolved the Rikken Kokuminto (Constitutional National Party) and formed the Reform Club with Nakano Seigo and Ozaki Yukio. When the universal suffrage law was enacted in 1925, he merged the Reform Club with the Rikken Seiyukai (Constitutional Friends of the Party), and decided to retire from politics, resigning as Minister of Communications and as a member of parliament, but was re-elected and returned to his seat. In 1929 (Showa 4), he became president of the Seiyukai (Constitutional Friends of the Party), and in 1930, he launched a fierce attack on the government in parliament when the Minseito (Minseito) cabinet of Hamaguchi Osachi signed the London Naval Treaty. In 1931, following the collapse of the Minseito (Minseito) cabinet, he formed the Inukai cabinet. He spent most of his long political career working to realize anti-han factions and constitutional politics, but in his later years, he compromised with pro-military forces, leading to the strengthening of non-constitutional forces such as the military. He was assassinated on May 15, 1932 by young naval officers who were aiming to establish a military government (the May 15 Incident).

[Kenichi Yoshii]

Inukai Tsuyoshi's birthplace in Okayama City is a 19th century building designated as an Important Cultural Property.

[Editorial Department]

"The Biography of Inukai Kido, edited by the Biography Publishing Committee, 3 volumes (reprint edition, 1968, Hara Shobo)" ▽ "Understanding Inukai Tsuyoshi and His Times, edited by Sanyo Shimbun, volumes 1 and 2 (1982, Sanyo Shimbun Publishing Bureau)" ▽ "Inukai Tsuyoshi in the Meiji Period, by Tokito Hideto (1996, Fuyo Shobo Publishing)" ▽ "Inukai Tsuyoshi - His Charm and True Image, by Tokito Hideto (2002, Sanyo Shimbun)" ▽ "Biography of Former Prime Ministers Series 20: Inukai Tsuyoshi, supervised by Mikuriya Takashi (2006, Yumani Shobo)" ▽ "Inukai Tsuyoshi - Not a Sacrifice for Party, Sacrifice for Country, by Kobayashi Tadashi (2009, Minerva Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治～昭和期の政党政治家。号は木堂(ぼくどう)。安政(あんせい)2年4月20日備中国(びっちゅうのくに)（岡山県）の大庄屋(おおじょうや)犬飼家に次男として生まれる。1868年（明治1）14歳のとき父が急死した。21歳で上京、『郵便報知新聞』に寄稿し、その原稿料で慶応義塾に学んだ。1877年西南戦争に際し報知社より特派され、従軍記者として活躍した。1880年豊川良平(とよかわりょうへい)らと東海社を設立し『東海経済新報』を創刊、主幹として編集を担当した。1881年先輩矢野文雄の勧めにより尾崎行雄(おざきゆきお)らとともに統計院に入る。このときの関係から以後30余年にわたり大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)の陣営に属することとなった。明治十四年の政変による大隈の失脚で同院を退官、翌1882年立憲改進党の創立に参加し、東京府会議員に芝区より選出された。以後50年にわたり政党活動を続けることになった。1887年後藤象二郎(ごとうしょうじろう)の大同団結運動に参加、1890年最初の総選挙に岡山県より立候補して当選、その後17回行われた総選挙に毎回当選を果たした。政党の離合集散に伴い1895年進歩党、1898年憲政党、憲政本党、1910年（明治43）立憲国民党に所属した。1896年には松方正義(まつかたまさよし)と大隈の提携のために奔走し、松隈内閣(しょうわいないかく)を実現させ、1898年の隈板内閣(わいはんないかく)では尾崎行雄の辞任のあと文相に就任した。これらの時期を除けば、その所属する政党はつねに野党でしかも少数派であり、藩閥政府攻撃の一勢力として議会で活躍、雄弁家として知られた。1912年（大正1）第一次護憲運動では先頭にたって活動し、尾崎行雄とともに「憲政の神様」と称せられることとなった。また対中国政策にも深い関心をもち、孫文(そんぶん)の革命派の亡命を援助したり、中国人居留民子弟の教育機関大同学校（横浜）の校長にも就任した。1918年寺内正毅(てらうちまさたけ)内閣が設置した臨時外交調査会に参加、これが政権接近への一つの転機となり、1923年第二次山本権兵衛(やまもとごんべえ)内閣、1924年護憲三派内閣に逓相(ていしょう)として入閣し普通選挙法の実現に努めた。一方、1922年には立憲国民党を解党し、中野正剛(なかのせいごう)、尾崎行雄らと革新倶楽部(くらぶ)を結成した。1925年普通選挙法が実現するや革新倶楽部を立憲政友会と合同させ、自らは政界引退を決意して逓相、議員を辞任したが、再選され議席に復帰。1929年（昭和4）政友会総裁に就任し、1930年浜口雄幸(はまぐちおさち)民政党内閣のロンドン海軍軍縮条約締結に対し議会で激しい政府攻撃を展開した。1931年民政党内閣の瓦解(がかい)を受けて犬養内閣を組織した。長い政治生活の大半を反藩閥、立憲政治実現のため活動したが、晩年にあっては、むしろ親軍勢力に妥協し、軍部など非立憲的勢力の強化をもたらした。昭和7年5月15日、軍部政権樹立をねらう海軍青年将校らによって暗殺された（五・一五事件）。

［芳井研一］

岡山市にある犬養毅の生家は19世紀の建築として重要文化財に指定されている。

［編集部］

『伝記刊行会編『犬養木堂伝』全3巻（復刻版・1968・原書房）』▽『山陽新聞社編『話せばわかる　犬養毅とその時代』上下（1982・山陽新聞社出版局）』▽『時任英人著『明治期の犬養毅』（1996・芙蓉書房出版）』▽『時任英人著『犬養毅――その魅力と実像』（2002・山陽新聞社）』▽『御厨貴監修『歴代総理大臣伝記叢書20　犬養毅』（2006・ゆまに書房）』▽『小林惟司著『犬養毅――党派に殉ぜず、国家に殉ず』（2009・ミネルヴァ書房）』

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