Yamagata Aritomo - Yamagata Aritomo

A politician and elder statesman of the Meiji and Taisho periods. Army general and marshal. Born on June 14, Tempo 9, as the eldest son of Yamagata Aritoshi, a low-ranking samurai of the Choshu domain, in Hagi castle town. His childhood name was Tatsunosuke, later changing his name to Kosuke and Kyosuke, and after the Meiji Restoration he called himself Aritomo. He also took the name Gansetsu. He was influenced by the Sonno Joi ideology from an early age, and studied at Shoka Sonjuku. He joined the anti-shogunate faction of the Choshu domain, and played an active role as a military inspector of the Kiheitai. During the Boshin War, he fought in Echigo and Oshu as a staff officer for the Governor-General of the Hokuriku Province and the Governor-General of the Aizu Expedition. After the Meiji Restoration, he traveled to Europe in 1869 (Meiji 2) to inspect the military systems of each country, and returned to Japan the following year in 1870. He became Hyobu Shoyu and then Hyobu Taifu. In consultation with Saigo Takamori, he organized the Imperial Guard and worked hard to abolish the feudal domains and establish prefectures. He also followed the aspirations of Omura Masujiro and advocated conscription, which he realised in 1873, laying the foundations for a modern military system. In the same year, when the Ministry of the Army was established, he became Minister of the Army and also served as a councilor. He made efforts to put down successive peasant uprisings and samurai rebellions, and in 1878 after the Satsuma Rebellion, he established the General Staff following the German model, dualizing the military administration and military command system, and served as its first Chief of Staff. In 1878, he issued the Military Admonitions, and in 1882, he drafted and issued the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers, thus solidifying the spiritual foundation of the Imperial Army. During this time, he advocated a gradual transition to a constitutional system in opposition to the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, and in the political upheaval of 1881 (Meiji 14), he conspired with Ito Hirobumi and Iwakura Tomomi to expel Okuma Shigenobu's group from the government, thereby establishing the direction of a Prussian-style constitution. In 1882 he became President of the House of Councillors, and in the following year, 1883, he became Minister of the Interior, where he suppressed the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and worked to create a local system designed to give local control to landlords/influential people, enacting the city and town/village system in 1888, and the prefecture and county system in 1890. During this time, he was awarded the title of count with the enactment of the Peerage Act in 1884, and was promoted to army general in 1890.

In 1889, he formed the First Yamagata Cabinet, and in his first Diet session in 1890, he advocated for military expansion, coming into conflict with the Minto Party, which advocated "resting the people's power", but barely managed to get through by splitting the Tosa faction of the Liberal Party. In 1891, he resigned from the Cabinet en masse and received an Imperial Rescript granting preferential treatment to veteran statesmen, and together with Ito Hirobumi, Kuroda Kiyotaka and others, he exerted great political influence as a Genro (elder statesman). He served as commander of the First Army in the Sino-Japanese War, but returned home due to illness. After the war, amid the intensifying division of China by the great powers, he advocated for military expansion. In 1898, he became a marshal. During this period, he was deeply dissatisfied with the compromising alliance between the clan-affiliated government and political parties over post-war management, and he united the forces of clan-affiliated bureaucrats and the House of Peers to form the huge Yamagata faction. He also opposed Ito's idea of ​​forming a political party with the idea of ​​a three-party system (a party with a minority of bureaucratic politicians between the two major parties would control the party and hold the casting vote). In 1898, following the collapse of the first Okuma Cabinet, he formed the second Yamagata Cabinet, and in cooperation with the Constitutional Party, he increased land tax to secure funds for military expansion. After that, in order to prevent political parties from infiltrating the bureaucracy, he revised the Civil Service Appointment Law, expanded the authority of the Privy Council, and established a system in which military ministers could be active military officers, strengthening the bureaucracy. He also enacted the Public Order Police Law to prepare for the rise of labor and peasant movements. In foreign affairs, during the Boxer Rebellion (the Boxer Rebellion) in 1900 (Meiji 33), Japan sent its largest military force to China, cooperated with the great powers, and consolidated its position as an imperialist nation. When Ito Hirobumi organized the Rikken Seiyukai Party in September 1900, he recommended Ito as his successor as prime minister and resigned en masse. When the first Katsura Taro cabinet was formed in 1901, he supported it from behind the scenes, forcing the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and forcing preparations for war with Russia. During the Russo-Japanese War, he served at Imperial Headquarters as Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief of Logistics, and in 1907 was promoted to dukehood for his achievements. After the war, as a military leader, he promoted the formulation of the "Imperial Defense Policy" in 1907, and worked to expand the military and strengthen the military's political position. When Ito Hirobumi was assassinated in 1909, he strengthened his position as a genro (elder statesman) and, with the support of the Yamagata faction and the military, he exerted enormous influence in domestic and foreign affairs. However, as popular movements gained momentum during the Taisho period and political parties gained power, his influence gradually weakened. He was deeply shocked by the rice riots of 1918 (Taisho 7), and finally recommended Hara Takashi, president of the Seiyukai party, as a candidate for prime minister, and came to accept a party cabinet. He failed in the selection of the Crown Princess in 1921 (a major incident at the Imperial Court), and died in despair on February 1, 1922, the following year, and was given a state funeral. As a bureaucrat and politician, he wielded enormous power, but was a cautious and sly character, and his strong desire for power was consistent throughout his life. He was fond of waka poetry and had a hobby of gardening and landscaping, and some of his famous residences include Kyoto Murin-an, Odawara Kokian, and Mejiro Chinzanso.

[Masaomi Yui]

"Irie Kanichi, 'Memories of Lord Yamagata' (1930, Kaikōsha)" ▽ "Tokutomi Inoichirō, 'The Life of Duke Yamagata Aritomo', 3 volumes (1933, Yamagata Aritomo Memorial Association/Reprint edition, 1969, Hara Shobo)" ▽ "Tokutomi Soho, 'The Life of Duke Yamagata Aritomo' (1969, Hara Shobo, Meiji Centennial History Series)" ▽ "Togawa Inotake, 'Prime Ministers of the Meiji and Taisho Eras 2: Yamagata Aritomo and the Leader of Enrichment and Military Strengthening' (1983, Kodansha)" ▽ "Mitarai Tatsuo, Hosokawa Takamoto, 'Biography of Japanese Prime Ministers 2: Yamagata Aritomo' (1985, Jiji Press)" ▽ "Fujimura Michio, 'Biography Series: Yamagata Aritomo', New Edition (1986, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Biographies of Prime Ministers Series 3: Yamagata Aritomo" edited by Mikuriya Takashi (2005, Yumani Shobo)" ▽ "Hara Takashi and Yamagata Aritomo - Foreign and domestic politics surrounding the vision of the nation" by Kawada Minoru (Chuko Shinsho)" ▽ "Yamagata Aritomo - Symbol of Meiji Japan" by Oka Yoshitake (Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "Yamagata Aritomo - The life of a simple-minded man of power" by Ito Yukio (Bunshun Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期の政治家、元老。陸軍大将、元帥。天保(てんぽう)9年6月14日、長州藩(ちょうしゅうはん)下級士族山県有稔(ありとし)の長男として萩(はぎ)城下に生まれる。幼名辰之助(たつのすけ)、のち小輔(こすけ)、狂介(きょうすけ)と改称、維新後有朋と称した。含雪(がんせつ)と号す。早くから尊王攘夷(そんのうじょうい)思想の影響を受け、松下村塾(しょうかそんじゅく)に学ぶ。長州藩倒幕派に加わり、奇兵隊軍監として活躍。戊辰戦争(ぼしんせんそう)では北陸道鎮撫総督(ほくりくどうちんぶそうとく)兼会津征討総督の参謀として越後(えちご)、奥羽に転戦。維新後の1869年（明治2）渡欧、各国軍制を視察し翌1870年帰国。兵部少輔(ひょうぶしょうゆう)、ついで同大輔(たいふ)となる。西郷隆盛(さいごうたかもり)と諮って御親兵(ごしんぺい)を組織し、廃藩置県に尽力。また大村益次郎(おおむらますじろう)の志を継ぎ徴兵制を主張し、1873年これを実現、近代軍制の基礎を築いた。同年陸軍省設置により陸軍卿(きょう)となり参議を兼任。相次ぐ農民一揆(のうみんいっき)、士族反乱の鎮圧に努め、西南戦争後の1878年にはドイツに倣って参謀本部を設置し軍政・軍令機関の二元化を行い、初代参謀本部長の任にあたった。1878年軍人訓誡(ぐんじんくんかい)を頒布、1882年には軍人勅諭を起案、頒布し、天皇制軍隊の精神的基礎を固めた。この間、自由民権運動に対抗して漸進的な立憲制への移行を主張し、1881年（明治14）政変では、伊藤博文(いとうひろぶみ)、岩倉具視(いわくらともみ)らと謀って大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)一派の政府外追放を行い、プロシア流憲法制定の方向を確定した。1882年参事院議長、翌1883年には内務卿に就任して自由民権運動を弾圧するとともに、地主＝名望家の地方支配を意図した地方制度創出に努力し、1888年に市制・町村制、1890年には府県制・郡制を制定した。この間、1884年華族令の制定により伯爵を授けられ、1890年には陸軍大将に昇進した。

　1889年第一次山県内閣を組織、1890年の第一議会に臨み軍備拡張を主張し、「民力休養」を掲げた民党と対立、自由党土佐派を切り崩して、からくも切り抜けた。1891年内閣総辞職、元勲優遇の勅語を受け、伊藤博文、黒田清隆(くろだきよたか)らとともに元老として大きな政治力を発揮した。日清戦争では第一軍司令官として出征したが、病気で帰国。戦後は列強の中国分割激化のなかで軍備拡張を主張した。1898年元帥。この時期、戦後経営をめぐる藩閥政府と政党の妥協提携に強い不満をもち、藩閥官僚、貴族院の勢力を結集し、巨大な山県閥を形成するに至った。また伊藤の政党結成論に対しては三党鼎立(ていりつ)論（二大政党間に少数官僚派議員を掌握してキャスティング・ボートを握り政党を操縦する）をもって対抗した。1898年、第一次大隈内閣瓦解(がかい)の後を受けて第二次山県内閣を組織し、憲政党と提携して軍拡財源確保のために地租増徴を断行、このあと政党勢力の官僚機構への進出を阻むため文官任用令改正、枢密院権限の拡大、軍部大臣現役武官制を制定して官僚制を強化した。また治安警察法を制定して労働・農民運動の台頭に備えた。対外的には1900年（明治33）の義和団事件（北清事変(ほくしんじへん)）に際し、最大の軍隊を中国に派遣し、列強に協力して、帝国主義国としての地歩を固めた。1900年9月伊藤博文が立憲政友会を組織すると、伊藤を後継首班に推薦して総辞職した。1901年第一次桂太郎(かつらたろう)内閣が成立すると黒幕として背後から援助し、日英同盟を締結させ、対露戦準備を強行させた。日露戦争では参謀総長、兵站(へいたん)総督として大本営に列し、1907年にはその功により公爵に陞叙(しょうじょ)された。戦後は軍部の巨頭として1907年「帝国国防方針」の策定を進め、軍備拡張、軍部の政治的地位の強化に努めた。1909年伊藤博文が暗殺されると元老としての地位を強め、山県閥、軍部勢力を背景に内政、外交に絶大な力を発揮した。しかし大正期に入り民衆運動が高揚し、政党の力が強まるにつれてその影響力も徐々に弱まり、1918年（大正7）の米騒動では大きな衝撃を受け、ついに政友会総裁原敬(はらたかし)を首相候補に推薦し、政党内閣を認めるに至った。1921年の皇太子妃選定問題（宮中某重大事件）に失敗し、翌大正11年2月1日失意のうちに没し、国葬が行われた。官僚政治家として絶大な権力を駆使したが、性格は慎重、陰険で、生涯強い権力欲で一貫した。和歌をよくし、築庭・造園に趣味をもち、その邸宅として、京都無隣庵(きょうとむりんあん)、小田原古稀庵(おだわらこきあん)、目白椿山荘(めじろちんざんそう)などが有名である。

［由井正臣］

『入江貫一著『山県公のおもかげ』（1930・偕行社）』▽『徳富猪一郎著『公爵山県有朋伝』全3巻（1933・山県有朋公記念事業会／復刻版・1969・原書房）』▽『徳富蘇峰編述『公爵山県有朋伝』（1969・原書房・明治百年史叢書）』▽『戸川猪佐武著『明治・大正の宰相2　山県有朋と富国強兵のリーダー』（1983・講談社）』▽『御手洗辰雄著、細川隆元監修『日本宰相列伝2　山県有朋』（1985・時事通信社）』▽『藤村道生著『人物叢書　山県有朋』新装版（1986・吉川弘文館）』▽『御厨貴監修『歴代総理大臣伝記叢書3　山県有朋』（2005・ゆまに書房）』▽『川田稔著『原敬と山県有朋――国家構想をめぐる外交と内政』（中公新書）』▽『岡義武著『山県有朋――明治日本の象徴』（岩波新書）』▽『伊藤之雄著『山県有朋――愚直な権力者の生涯』（文春新書）』

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