Miura Gorou

A soldier and politician in the Meiji and Taisho eras. His pen name was Kanju. He was born on November 15, 1845, as the second son of Iobe Yoshihira, a samurai of the Choshu domain, and later inherited the Miura family line. He studied at the domain school Meirinkan, and later joined the Kiheitai, fighting against the Shogunate forces in the Second Choshu Expedition, and also serving in the Boshin War. In 1870 (Meiji 3), he joined the Ministry of War, and after serving as a councilor in the Elders, he became commander-in-chief of the Hiroshima Garrison in 1876, and was involved in putting down the Hagi Rebellion and the Satsuma Rebellion. In 1878, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed head of the Western Military Inspection Department, but he opposed the government in the Hokkaido Colonization Agency's transfer of government property scandal, and was demoted to the head of the military academy the following year in 1882. In 1884, he accompanied the Minister of the Army, Oyama Iwao, to investigate the military systems of European countries, during which time he was awarded the title of Viscount. After returning to Japan, he served as commander-in-chief of both the Tokyo and Kumamoto garrisons. From 1886 onwards, the mainstream of the Army attempted to switch to a Prussian-style military system and abolish the Military Inspection Department, which he opposed along with Tani Kanjo and others. Furthermore, his activities as an advisor to the Getsuyo-kai, a research group within the Army, came to be shunned by the mainstream, and in 1888 he was transferred to the reserve forces along with Soga Sukenori and others. He served as an Imperial Court advisor and president of Gakushuin, submitted a petition opposing treaty revision negotiations led by Foreign Minister Okuma Shigenobu, and was elected to the House of Peers as a Viscount in 1890. In 1895, he became the envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Korea, and in an attempt to recover from Japan's inferior position in the Korean government after the Triple Intervention, he caused the massacre of Queen Min, for which he was detained in Hiroshima. From 1898 to 1899, he participated in the anti-tax increase movement promoted by the Constitutional Party, and campaigned in the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions. In 1910 (Meiji 43), he became a Privy Councilor, and thereafter played an active role as a mastermind in the political world. In opposition to elder statesman Yamagata Aritomo, he approached political parties, and during the second Okuma cabinet, he mediated a meeting between the leaders of the Constitutional Party, Seiyukai Party, and Rikken Kokuminto Party over foreign policy, and in 1924 (Taisho 13), he realised a meeting between the leaders of the Constitutional Party, Seiyukai Party, and Reform Club, promoting the establishment of the second Constitutional Protection Movement. Died on January 28, 1926.

[Uno Shunichi]

"The Memoirs of Shogun Kanju, edited by Kotani Yasutaro (1925, Seikyosha/1988, Ozorasha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正時代の軍人、政治家。号は観樹(かんじゅ)。弘化(こうか)3年11月15日長州藩士五十部(いおべ)吉平の次男として生まれ、のち三浦家を継いだ。藩校明倫館(めいりんかん)に学び、のち奇兵隊に入隊、第二次長州征伐で幕府軍と対戦、戊辰戦争(ぼしんせんそう)にも従軍した。1870年（明治3）兵部省に出仕、元老院議官を経て、1876年広島鎮台司令長官となり、萩(はぎ)の乱や西南戦争の鎮圧にあたった。1878年陸軍中将に昇進、西部監軍部長に任じられたが、開拓使官有物払下げ事件で政府に反対し、翌1882年士官学校長に左遷された。1884年陸軍卿(りくぐんきょう)大山巌(おおやまいわお)に随行してヨーロッパ各国の兵制を調査、この間に子爵を授けられる。帰国後、東京、熊本両鎮台の司令長官を歴任した。1886年以降、陸軍主流がプロシア式軍制への転換を試み、監軍部を廃止しようとしたため谷干城(たにかんじょう)らとともに反対、さらに陸軍内の研究団体月曜会の顧問格としての活動が主流派の忌避するところとなり、曽我祐凖(そがすけのり)らとともに1888年に予備役に編入された。宮中顧問官、学習院長を歴任、大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)外相の条約改正交渉には反対意見を上奏、1890年には子爵議員として貴族院議員に選ばれた。1895年在朝鮮特命全権公使となり、三国干渉以後の朝鮮政府内における日本の劣勢を挽回(ばんかい)しようとして閔妃虐殺事件(びんひぎゃくさつじけん)を引き起こし、広島に拘禁された。1898～1899年には憲政本党の推進する非増租運動に参加して東北・北陸方面に遊説した。1910年（明治43）枢密顧問官となり、以後政界の黒幕として活動。元老山県有朋(やまがたありとも)に対抗して政党に接近、第二次大隈内閣のときに外交政策をめぐり憲政会・政友会・立憲国民党の三党首会談を斡旋(あっせん)、さらに1924年（大正13）には憲政・政友・革新倶楽部(くらぶ)の三党首会談を実現し、第二次護憲運動の成立を促進した。大正15年1月28日没。

［宇野俊一］

『小谷保太郎編『観樹将軍回顧録』（1925・政教社／1988・大空社）』

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