Osachi Hamaguchi

A politician of the Taisho and Showa periods. Born on April 1, 1870, in Kochi Prefecture as the third son of forestry official Mizuguchi Tanehira, he was adopted by wealthy farmer Hamaguchi Yoshitatsu in the same prefecture. After graduating from the Department of Political Science at Tokyo Imperial University in 1895 (Meiji 28), he joined the Ministry of Finance and served for many years as the Director of the Tax Management (Supervision) Bureau in local areas such as Yamagata, Matsuyama, and Kumamoto. In 1904 (Meiji 37), he returned to the Ministry and worked in the Monopoly Bureau. Until he was appointed Vice Minister of Communications in the third Katsura Taro cabinet, he was solely in the Monopoly Bureau, working to establish the monopoly business, and in 1907 he was appointed the first Director General of the Monopoly Bureau, solidifying the foundations of the Monopoly Bureau. His honest personality and work ethic were so well-received that he was even asked by Sumitomo to take on an executive position. He was also invited by Goto Shinpei to go to Taiwan when Goto became Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Taiwan Governor's Office, and to join the South Manchuria Railway when Goto became President of the company, but he continued to decline. However, in 1912 (Taisho 1), he accepted Goto's third invitation, and was appointed Vice Minister of Communications in the third Katsura Taro cabinet. The following year, in 1913, he participated in the formation of Katsura's Constitutional Comrades Association together with Goto, and entered politics. In 1914, he was appointed Vice Minister of Finance under Wakatsuki Reijiro, Minister of Finance in the second Okuma Shigenobu cabinet. He was elected in his first general election in 1915, but lost in the 1917 general election, and was elected in a by-election in 1919. He was subsequently elected in four general elections in a row. He was appointed Minister of Finance in the 1924 Constitutionalist Three Party Cabinet, then the second Kato Takaaki Cabinet, and the first Wakatsuki Cabinet, where he worked to pass a tax reform plan. He became Minister of Home Affairs in a cabinet reshuffle, and resigned in 1927 (Showa 2) when the cabinet resigned en masse. In the same year, he became the first president of the Rikken Minseito Party, which was formed by the merger of the Kenseikai Party and Seiyukai Party. In 1929, when the Seiyukai Party Cabinet led by Tanaka Giichi resigned en masse, he formed a Minseito Cabinet instead, and ordered Finance Minister Inoue Junnosuke to implement fiscal austerity and industrial rationalization, and carried out the lifting of the gold embargo. He also promoted cooperative diplomacy under Foreign Minister Shidehara Kijuro, and worked to improve relations with China and cooperate with Britain and the United States. In 1930, Hamaguchi sent a delegation to the London Naval Conference and concluded the disarmament treaty despite opposition from the Naval General Staff. The Seiyukai Party, which aimed to overthrow the Cabinet, launched a fierce attack on the government in the Diet immediately after the treaty was signed, raising the issue of interference with supreme command authority, and fanned the flames of the military's right-wing theory of interference with supreme command authority. The Privy Council also ran into difficulties with the ratification of the treaty, but was able to get through with the backing of elder statesman Saionji Kinmochi. On November 14 of the same year, he was shot and seriously injured by a right-wing youth named Sagoya Tomeo at Tokyo Station. In the 59th Diet, the Seiyukai Party again launched a fierce attack on the government, raising the issue of interference with supreme command authority, and persistently called for Hamaguchi's attendance. Due to his excessive attendance at parliament, his condition worsened, and he resigned as Prime Minister in April 1931 (Showa 6). He died on August 26 of the same year. He was a man of great dignity and sincerity, and was highly trusted by the people, and was nicknamed the "Lion Prime Minister" because of his appearance. As he held great importance within the Minseito Party, his death caused a conflict within the party over who would be his successor.

[Kenichi Yoshii]

"The Life of Hamaguchi Yuko, edited by Sekine Minoru (1931, Dosho Kankokai)" ▽ "The Life of Hamaguchi Yuko, Diaries and Thoughts, edited by Ikei Masaru, Kurosawa Fumiyoshi, and Hatano Masaru (1991, Misuzu Shobo)" ▽ "Biography Series 178: The Life of Hamaguchi Yuko - Biography of Hamaguchi Yuko, edited by Koyanagi Goro (1995, Ozorasha)" ▽ "History and Culture Library 180: The Turbulent Showa Era and Hamaguchi Yuko, written by Kawada Minoru (2004, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Biography Series 19: Hamaguchi Yuko, supervised by Mikuriya Takashi (2006, Yumani Shobo)" ▽ "Hamaguchi Yuko: The Exam Era of Party Politics, written by Hatano Masaru (Chuko Shinsho)" ▽ "Yuyuki Hamaguchi - Even if I lose my life" by Minoru Kawada (Minerva Publishing, 2007)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正・昭和期の政治家。明治3年4月1日高知県で山林官水口胤平(たねひら)の三男として生まれ、同県の豪農浜口義立の養子となる。1895年（明治28）東京帝国大学政治学科を卒業後、大蔵省に入り、山形、松山、熊本など地方の税務管理（監督）局長を長く務めたのち、1904年（明治37）に本省に戻り、専売局に勤務した。第三次桂太郎(かつらたろう)内閣の逓信(ていしん)次官就任まで、もっぱら専売局にあって、専売事業の確立に努め、1907年には初代専売局長官に就任、専売局の基礎固めをした。その誠実な人柄と仕事ぶりを見込まれ、住友から重役就任を請われたこともあった。また後藤新平からは、後藤の台湾総督府民政局長就任のおりに台湾行きを、満鉄総裁就任のおりには満鉄入りの誘いを受けたが、断り続けた。しかし1912年（大正1）後藤の三度目の招きに応じ、第三次桂太郎内閣の逓信次官に就任した。翌1913年後藤とともに桂の立憲同志会の結成に参加、政界入りした。1914年、第二次大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)内閣の蔵相若槻礼次郎(わかつきれいじろう)のもとで大蔵次官に就任した。1915年の総選挙に初出馬で当選したが、1917年の総選挙では落選、1919年の補欠選挙で当選した。以後4回の総選挙に連続当選。1924年の護憲三派内閣、ついで第二次加藤高明(かとうたかあき)内閣、第一次若槻内閣の蔵相に就任し、税制整理案の成立に努めた。内閣改造で内相に転じ、1927年（昭和2）内閣総辞職により辞任した。同年憲政会・政友本党の合併による立憲民政党の結成に際して初代総裁に就任。1929年、田中義一(たなかぎいち)政友会内閣が総辞職したため、かわって民政党内閣を組織し、蔵相井上準之助(いのうえじゅんのすけ)に財政緊縮、産業合理化を進めさせ、金解禁を断行した。また外相幣原喜重郎(しではらきじゅうろう)のもとで協調外交を推進し、対中国関係の改善とイギリス、アメリカとの協調に努めた。1930年、ロンドン海軍軍縮会議に全権団を派遣し、海軍軍令部の反対を押し切って軍縮条約を締結した。内閣打倒をねらう政友会は条約調印直後の議会で統帥権干犯論を掲げて激しく政府を攻撃し、軍部右翼の統帥権干犯論をあおりたてた。枢密院での条約批准も難航したが、元老西園寺公望(さいおんじきんもち)の後押しで切り抜けることができた。同年11月14日東京駅で右翼青年佐郷屋留雄(さごうやとめお)に狙撃(そげき)され、重傷を負った。政友会は第59議会でふたたび統帥権干犯論をかざして激しい政府攻撃を展開し、浜口の出席を執拗(しつよう)に求めた。無理を押しての議会出席がたたって、病状が悪化したため、1931年（昭和6）4月首相を辞任した。同年8月26日死去。その重厚で誠実な人柄については国民の信頼が厚く、その容貌(ようぼう)から「ライオン首相」とよばれた。民政党内で重きをなしていたため、その死は党内に後継者をめぐる対立を引き起こすことになった。

［芳井研一］

『関根実編『浜口雄幸伝』（1931・同書刊行会）』▽『池井優、黒沢文貴、波多野勝編『浜口雄幸　日記・随感録』（1991・みすず書房）』▽『小柳津五郎編『伝記叢書178　浜口雄幸伝――伝記・浜口雄幸』（1995・大空社）』▽『川田稔著『歴史文化ライブラリー180　激動昭和と浜口雄幸』（2004・吉川弘文館）』▽『御厨貴監修『歴代総理大臣伝記叢書19　浜口雄幸』（2006・ゆまに書房）』▽『波多野勝著『浜口雄幸　政党政治の試験時代』（中公新書）』▽『川田稔著『浜口雄幸――たとえ身命を失うとも』（2007・ミネルヴァ書房）』

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