Masaaki Maeda

Japanese: 前田正名 - まえだ・まさな

Year of death: August 11, 1921
Year of birth: 12 March 1850 (23 April 1850)
Economic bureaucrat in the early Meiji period and leader of the local industry promotion movement. Sixth son of Maeda Zen'an, physician of the Kagoshima domain. Studied in Nagasaki during the Keio era (1865-68), travelled to France in 1869 and studied administration and finance at the French Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, returning to Japan in 1877 as an official adviser to the Ministry of the Interior. Later, working at the Ministry of Finance under the "Okuma Finance," he advocated the idea of direct exports and became one of Okuma's brains. In 1881, he became secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance, and went on a business trip to Europe to investigate the economic situation. After returning to Japan in 1881, he worked with Shinagawa Yajiro and others to conceive economic policies, and in March 1882, he began compiling "Opinions on Industry" at the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, completing the unfinished 30-volume manuscript in August. He criticized the "Matsukata Finance" and advocated strong industrial protectionism through the supply of additional funds for the promotion of industry, which led to conflict with Minister of Finance Matsukata Masayoshi. As a result, the content of "Opinions on Industry" had to be significantly changed before it was published. In July 1946, he traveled to rural areas during the recession and preached about self-reliance among farmers, emphasizing the "three main points" of hard work, thrift, and savings, but was removed from his position in December of the same year. After serving as Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture in 1946, he returned to his position as Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce's Engineering Bureau and Director General of the Agriculture Bureau in 1947, and became Vice Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, a member of the House of Elders, and an Imperially appointed member of the House of Peers in 1948. However, unable to agree with the policies of the central government, he left the government and from 1950 he led the movement to promote local industry. He organized local business organizations and the National Agricultural Association, and worked to present the demands of these organizations to the government and the Diet. In the 1950s, he volunteered for the Machimura Kore Movement, a rural survey program, but his later years were spent in obscurity. <References> Sota Osamu, "Maeda Masana," and "Thoughts and Movements of Local Industry" by Sota Osamu.

(Umino Fukuju)

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

Japanese:

没年：大正10.8.11(1921)
生年：嘉永3.3.12(1850.4.23)
明治前期の経済官僚,地方産業振興運動指導者。鹿児島藩医前田善安の6男。慶応年間(1865～68)長崎留学,明治2(1869)年フランスに渡り,フランス農商務省で行財政を学び,10年に内務省御用掛として帰国。のち「大隈財政」下の大蔵省にあって直輸出論を提唱,大隈ブレーンのひとりとなる。14年農商務・大蔵大書記官となり欧州経済事情調査に出張。16年帰国後は品川弥二郎らと組み経済政策を構想,17年3月より農商務省で『興業意見』編纂に取り組み,8月未定稿30巻を完成,「松方財政」を批判し,殖産興業資金の追加供給による強力な産業保護主義を主張して松方正義大蔵卿と対立した。このため内容の大幅変更を余儀なくされた『興業意見』の刊行となった。18年7月より不況下の地方に出張し,勤勉,節倹,貯蓄の「三要点」を強調して農民の自力更生を説くが,同年12月非職。21年山梨県知事を経て22年農商務省工務局長,農務局長に復帰,23年農商務次官,元老院議官,貴族院勅選議員となるが,政府中枢の政策に同調できず官界を去り,25年以降地方産業振興運動を指導。地方実業団体,全国農事会を系統組織化,政府,議会にそれら団体の要求を建議する活動を行った。30年代には農村調査計画である町村是運動に挺身したが,晩年は不遇に終わった。<参考文献>祖田修『前田正名』,同『地方産業の思想と運動』

(海野福寿)

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