Yasuya Uchida

A diplomat and politician from the Meiji to early Showa periods. His name is generally pronounced "Kousai." The son of a samurai from the Kumamoto domain, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Imperial University in 1887 (Meiji 20) and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After working overseas and serving as a section chief in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, he became Director-General of the Ministry's Trade Bureau in 1897. He subsequently served as Director-General of the Political Affairs Bureau, Director-General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Minister to Qing China, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and was made a baron in 1907 (Meiji 40). After serving in Europe and the United States, he became a viscount in 1909 and was appointed Foreign Minister in the second Saionji Kinmochi cabinet. In 1916 (Taisho 5), he became ambassador to Russia, and later served as Foreign Minister in the cabinets of Hara Takashi, Takahashi Korekiyo, and Kato Tomosaburo, and was made a count. In 1926, he became a Privy Councilor. In 1928 (Showa 3), he became plenipotentiary at the Paris Kellogg-Briand Pact Conference, but the phrase "in the name of their respective peoples" in the treaty caused controversy domestically, and he resigned as advisor. In 1930, he became a member of the House of Peers, and the following year, he became president of the South Manchuria Railway. During the Manchurian Incident, he cooperated with the Kwantung Army, and when he became foreign minister in the Saito Makoto cabinet in 1932, he forced the recognition of "Manchukuo," saying, "We will not give in even if we turn our country into a wasteland," earning him the nickname "scorched earth diplomacy." The following year, he promoted withdrawal from the League of Nations, but died on March 12, 1936.

[Makio Okabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治から昭和前期の外交官、政治家。名は一般に「こうさい」と読まれる。熊本藩士の子で、1887年（明治20）帝国大学法科大学卒業、外務省に入る。在外勤務、農商務省課長を経て1897年外務省通商局長となる。以後政務局長、総務長官、清(しん)国公使、外務次官を歴任し、1907年（明治40）男爵。欧米在勤ののち、1909年子爵となり、第二次西園寺公望(さいおんじきんもち)内閣の外相に就任。1916年（大正5）ロシア大使、その後原敬(たかし)、高橋是清(これきよ)、加藤友三郎内閣の外相を務め、伯爵となる。1926年枢密顧問官。1928年（昭和3）パリ不戦条約会議全権となるが、その条約文中の「其(そ)ノ各自ノ人民ノ名ニ於(おい)テ」が国内で問題となり、顧問官を辞任する。1930年貴族院議員、翌年満鉄総裁。満州事変では関東軍に協力し、1932年斎藤実(まこと)内閣の外相に就任すると、「国を焦土にしても譲らない」として「満州国」の承認を強行、「焦土外交」の異名をとった。翌年、国際連盟脱退を推進したが、昭和11年3月12日死去した。

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