Takashi Hara

Japanese: 原敬 - はら・たかし

Year of death: November 4, 1921
Year of birth: 9th February 1856 (15th March 1856)
A political party politician of the Meiji and Taisho periods. The second son of Hara Naoharu and Ritsuko, samurai of the Nanbu clan (Iwate prefecture). Born in Motomiya village (Motomiya, Morioka city). His childhood name was Kenjiro. His pen names were Ichizan and Itzan. In 1871, he entered Kyokan Gijuku, an English school established by the Nanbu family in Tokyo, but due to financial difficulties he was baptized, and in 1872 he went to Niigata as a servant for Father Ebrard. In 1875 he returned home. He branched off from the family and became a commoner, and in 1876 he passed the entrance exam for the Ministry of Justice Law School with second place. In 1887 he was expelled from school after a commotion erupted over dissatisfaction with the food served in the cafeteria. In the same year he joined the Yubin Hochi Shimbun, where he also wrote editorials and contributed to the Kyochu Shinpo in Kofu. In 1880 he left the company. In the same year he became editor-in-chief of the Daito Nippo (Kobe), which was affiliated with the Constitutional Imperial Party, and became known to Inoue Kaoru. At the end of the same year he became an official adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1881 he became consul in Tianjin due to his ability to speak French as relations between China and France became tense. Negotiated with Li Hongzhang. His records of the Sino-French War were detailed, and his reports to the Ministry were accurate. In 1883 he became a secretary at the Japanese Embassy in France, and in 1890 he returned to Japan as a counselor in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and then as secretary to the Minister. He was devoted to the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Mutsu Munemitsu, and resigned in 1892 when Mutsu resigned. In the same year he was invited by Foreign Minister Mutsu to become Director General of the Trade Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1893 Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in 1894 Minister to Korea. Upon Mutsu's death he left the government in 1895 and joined the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun Company as Chief Editor, becoming President the following year. He devoted himself to the development of the company through innovative ideas. In 1898 he participated in the preparations for the founding of the Constitutional Seiyukai Party led by Ito Hirobumi, and when it was established in September he joined the Seiyukai and became Secretary General of the General Affairs Committee. In December he succeeded Minister of Communications when Hoshi Toru resigned, but resigned in June 1899 when the cabinet resigned en masse. He became president of Kitahama Bank in Osaka, a position he held until May 1901. During this time, he ran for office from Iwate Prefecture in 1900 and became a member of the House of Representatives. He was elected every year thereafter until his death. Under Ito, president of the Rikken Seiyukai Party, he minimized the unrest in the Seiyukai Party caused by two compromises between Ito and Prime Minister Katsura Taro. He subsequently assisted Saionji Kinmochi, president of the party, and negotiated with Katsura to form the First Saionji Cabinet in January 1904. As Minister of the Interior, he worked to reform the Ministry of the Interior and increase the number of "Seiyukai governors," and shocked the Yamagata faction with his bill to abolish the county system, becoming a pillar of the cabinet. As Minister of the Interior in the Second Saionji Cabinet and the First Yamamoto Gonbei Cabinet after the Taishō Political Crisis (1913), he promoted administrative and financial reorganization. After the resignation of the cabinet due to the Siemens scandal, he became the third president of the Rikken Seiyukai Party and became a quasi-ruling party in the Terauchi Masatake Cabinet, recovering his party's strength and taking power in September 1918 (Taisho 7). He set forth four major political platforms (national defense, industry, transportation, and education), implemented active policies, revised the electoral system including voting qualifications, worked to improve ports, increased the number of higher education institutions, and strengthened the navy, and initiated the national census. In foreign affairs, he placed emphasis on cooperation with the United States, suspended the Nishihara Loan, and began the withdrawal of troops from Siberia. On the other hand, he considered universal suffrage premature, showed no understanding of democracy, and suppressed socialism. During this time, he faced problems such as the tyranny of Seiyukai members, the recession following the depression, and inadequate social policies, and his administration was seen as dictatorial, leading to his death by the assassination of Nakaoka Gonichi on November 4th. His greatest achievement was expanding the party's influence with his great insight and outstanding leadership, and establishing a full-fledged party cabinet. He refused to be granted a peerage throughout his life. <References> Keiichiro Hara, "Hara Takashi Diary," Fukutake Shoten, 6 volumes; Hara Takashi Documents Research Group, "Hara Takashi Related Documents," 10 volumes in total, 1 supplementary volume

(Yamamoto Shiro)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正10.11.4(1921)
生年：安政3.2.9(1856.3.15)
明治大正期の政党政治家。南部藩(岩手県)藩士原直治,リツ子の次男。本宮村(盛岡市本宮)生まれ。幼名健次郎。号は一山,逸山。明治4(1871)年南部家が東京に設けた英学校共慣義塾に入るが,学資に窮して受洗,7年神父エブラルの従僕として新潟に赴く。8年帰郷。分家して平民となり,9年司法省法学校に2位で合格。12年食堂の賄への不満が暴発した騒動で退校処分。同年郵便報知新聞社に入社,社説も執筆し,甲府の『峡中新報』にも寄稿。15年退社。同年立憲帝政党系の『大東日報』(神戸)主筆となり井上馨に知られる。同年末外務省御用掛,16年清仏関係の緊迫によりフランス語の能力を買われ天津領事。李鴻章と交渉。清仏戦争の記録は詳細,本省への報告は的確であった。18年在仏公使館書記官,22年帰国し農商務省参事官,次いで大臣秘書官。陸奥宗光農商務大臣に傾倒し,25年陸奥辞任に伴い辞職。同年陸奥外相に招かれて外務省通商局長,28年外務次官,29年朝鮮公使。陸奥の死を機に30年官界を去り,大阪毎日新聞社に編輯総理として入社,翌年社長。新機軸により同社の発展に尽くした。33年伊藤博文の立憲政友会創立準備に参画,9月設立されると政友会に入り総務委員幹事長。12月星亨が辞任した逓相を継ぐが,34年6月内閣総辞職で辞任。大阪の北浜銀行頭取となり,36年5月まで務める。この間35年岩手県より立候補して衆院議員。以後没するまで連続当選。伊藤立憲政友会総裁下では伊藤と桂太郎首相の2度の妥協による政友会の動揺を最小限に止めた。以後西園寺公望総裁を助け,桂と交渉して39年1月第1次西園寺内閣を成立させた。自らは内務大臣として内務省の改革,「政友会知事」の増加に努め,郡制廃止法案で山県系を震撼させ,内閣の柱石となる。第2次西園寺内閣と大正政変(1913)後の第1次山本権兵衛内閣の内務大臣として行財政整理を推進した。シーメンス事件で内閣総辞職後は第3代立憲政友会総裁として寺内正毅内閣の準与党となり党勢を回復,大正7(1918)年9月政権を獲得。4大政綱(国防,産業,交通,教育)を掲げ,積極政策を展開,選挙資格などの選挙制度を改正したり,港湾の充実,高等教育機関の増設,海軍の充実に努め,国勢調査を創始した。外交はアメリカとの協調を重視し,西原借款を停止し,シベリア撤兵に着手した。一方,普通選挙は時期尚早とし,民本主義には理解を示さず,社会主義は抑圧した。この間政友会会員の横暴,恐慌後の不況,社会政策の不十分などがあり,その施政は独裁的とみられ,11月4日中岡艮一の凶刃に倒れた。高い識見と卓抜な指導力で党勢を伸ばし,本格的政党内閣を成立させたことが最大の功績。生涯授爵を拒む。<参考文献>原奎一郎『原敬日記』福武書店版6巻,原敬文書研究会『原敬関係文書』全10巻・別巻1

(山本四郎)

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