Shigeru Furusawa - Shigeru Furusawa

Freedom and civil rights activist and politician. Born January 11, 1845. A samurai of the Tosa domain. Originally named Uruo, he later took the name Shigeru. In 1862 (Bunkyu 2), he went to Kyoto and volunteered for the movement to overthrow the shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration, he traveled to England to study constitutional thought and the parliamentary system before returning to Japan. He later contributed to the Nisshin Shinjishi, and in September 1873 (Meiji 6), he was appointed editor-in-chief of the Yubin Hochi Shimbun. In January of the following year, 1874, he participated in the formation of the Aikoku Koto along with Itagaki Taisuke, Goto Shojiro, and others, and was one of the signers of the draft "Petition for the Establishment of a Popularly Elected Parliament." While he worked hard to found the Risshisha and Aikokusha, he also worked to promote civil rights as editor of the Osaka Nippo (later bought by the Liberal Party's separate unit, the Japan Constitutional Party, and became the Japan Constitutional Party Newspaper, with the Osaka Nippo remaining as a substitute newspaper). When Itagaki left Japan in 1882, he moved to the Liberal Party's organ newspaper, the Jiyu Shimbun, and took the lead in attacking the Constitutional Progressive Party and Mitsubishi, which were critical of the departure from Japan, voicing his views with slogans such as "Eradicate the false parties" and "Eradicate the sea monsters". He later served as an official in the Ministry of Finance, Home Affairs, Agriculture and Commerce, and Communications, and as governor of Nara, Yamaguchi, and Ishikawa prefectures, and was appointed a member of the House of Peers by Imperial decree in 1904 (Meiji 37). He died on December 22, Meiji 44.

[Takaaki Ikai]

"The History of Japanese Newspapers" by Yamamoto Fumio (1948, Kokusai Shuppan)" ▽ "The History of the Liberal Party" edited by Itagaki Taisuke (Iwanami Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

自由民権運動家、政治家。弘化(こうか)4年1月11日生まれ。土佐藩士。もと迂郎(うるお)、のち滋と名のった。1862年（文久2）上洛(じょうらく)して倒幕運動に挺身(ていしん)、維新後イギリスに渡り立憲思想、議会制度を研究して帰国した。その後『日新真事誌(にっしんしんじし)』に寄稿していたが、1873年（明治6）9月『郵便報知新聞』の主筆に迎えられた。翌1874年1月愛国公党の結成に板垣退助(いたがきたいすけ)、後藤象二郎(ごとうしょうじろう)らとともに参画し、「民撰議院設立建白書(みんせんぎいんせつりつけんぱくしょ)」を起草して署名者の一人となった。以後立志社、愛国社結成に尽力する一方、『大阪日報』（のち自由党の別働隊日本立憲政党に買収され『日本立憲政党新聞』となり、『大阪日報』は身代り新聞として残された）編集長として民権思想の鼓吹に努めた。1882年板垣の洋行を機に自由党機関紙『自由新聞』に移り、洋行を非難する立憲改進党と三菱(みつびし)の攻撃の先頭にたち、「偽党撲滅」「海坊主退治(うみぼうずたいじ)」の標語をもって論陣を張った。のち大蔵・内務・農商務・逓信(ていしん)各省の官吏、奈良・山口・石川各県の知事を歴任し、1904年（明治37）貴族院議員に勅選された。明治44年12月22日死去。

［猪飼隆明］

『山本文雄著『日本新聞史』（1948・国際出版）』▽『板垣退助監修『自由党史』（岩波文庫）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例