Toshimichi Okubo

A politician from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period. He is one of the "Three Great Men of the Meiji Restoration" along with Kido Takayoshi and Saigo Takamori. He was born a low-ranking samurai of the Satsuma domain. He was called Masasuke and Ichizo, and later changed his name to Toshimichi and also called himself Koto. His life can be divided into two periods: the first half, when he grew and transformed from a low-ranking samurai who supported the anti-shogunate movement at the end of the Edo period into a bureaucrat in the Meiji Restoration government, and the second half, when he established a dictatorial system as the highest authority in the government and implemented enlightened policies to enrich the country and strengthen the military. Toshimichi was born on August 10, 1821 in Korai-cho, under the castle of Kagoshima, and soon moved to Kajiya-cho. His family, like Saigo Takamori, belonged to the Okosho group. At the age of 17, Toshimichi was appointed assistant scribe at the Record Office, but in 1849 (Kaei 2), he was caught up in the Oyura Disturbance (also known as the Takasaki Disturbance), a battle for the head of the Satsuma domain, and his father, Toshiyo, was exiled, leaving the family in dire straits. During this time, Toshimichi associated with Sonnō-jōha lower-class samurai within the domain, and his eyes were opened to politics. Later, when Shimazu Nariakira, supported by the Takasaki faction within the domain, succeeded to the head of the family and took real power in the domain, his father, Toshiyo, was pardoned.

At that time, Toshimichi shared his views with Saigo Takamori and others under the lord of the domain, Nariakira, who was known as a "wise ruler," and began to play an active role as a central figure among the reformist lower samurai class of the domain. However, after Nariakira's death in 1858 (Ansei 5) and the Ansei Purge, Toshimichi worked to unify the opinions of the domain under Shimazu Hisamitsu (Nariakira's half-brother) and to promote the movement to unite the Imperial Court and the Shogunate. With Hisamitsu's patronage, Toshimichi was promoted to Kogashira (head of the accounting department) and then to head of the O-konendo (small storehouse) in 1860 (Man'en 1), advancing to the heart of the domain's government. At the time, he was the key link between the domain's political leadership and the lower samurai class, and gradually came close to being in a position to seize real power in the domain's government. In 1866 (Keio 2), Toshimichi, who had been active in cooperation with Saigo for some time, also allied with Shinagawa Yajiro, a samurai of the Choshu clan, and furthermore, he attracted Iwakura Tomomi, a nobleman in favor of overthrowing the shogunate, and concluded the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, and his position went beyond the policy of the clan government, shifting from a union of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate to one of overthrowing the shogunate by force. Thus, Toshimichi and his allies succeeded in having the Imperial Court bestow a secret imperial decree to overthrow the shogunate on the Satsuma clan, and as influential figures in the anti-shogunate faction, they succeeded in issuing a great proclamation of the restoration of monarchy, and became leaders of the Meiji Restoration.

With the establishment of the new government, Toshimichi, as one of its leaders, was promoted from counselor to choshi, then counselor to judge of the Domestic Affairs Bureau, and further to councilor, seizing control of the center of domestic politics. He also carried out the return of the domains and people to the Emperor together with Kido Takayoshi and others, and then the abolition of the feudal domains and establishment of prefectures. At the time, under the coalition government of powerful domains consisting of former anti-shogunate nobles and people from the former powerful domains of the southwest such as Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, and Hizen, Toshimichi took a conservative and gradual attitude compared to the enlightened stance of the Minister of Finance, Okuma Shigenobu, who was allied with Kido from the Ministry of Finance. However, when he was appointed Minister of Finance just before the abolition of the feudal domains and establishment of prefectures, he proposed a land tax reform to establish the foundation of government finances, and later worked on the project as the president of the Land Tax Reform Bureau, and also launched a policy of promoting industry with the aim of enriching the country and strengthening its military. Prior to this, in 1871 (Meiji 4), Toshimichi joined as deputy envoy the overseas mission led by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Iwakura Tomomi that toured the United States and Europe, inspecting the advanced countries of the United States and Europe. He was particularly impressed by the development of industry and trade in Britain and the expansion of military power in Prussia.

Returning from a year and a half overseas trip, Toshimichi used his experience abroad to argue for the need to strengthen the nation, rejected the argument for the expedition to Korea by Saigo and others, and forced them to resign. Afterwards, he envisioned the establishment of a new central government agency in charge of domestic affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, which he launched in 1873. At the time, the ministry was responsible for industrial development and police administration, with two offices, the Industrial Promotion Bureau and the Police Bureau, and was responsible for fostering capitalism and cracking down on public movements. This became the basis for Toshimichi's dictatorial rule as Councillor and Minister of Home Affairs. The so-called "Okubo administration" was Okubo's dictatorial rule, centered on the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was solidified by government bureaucrats from the former powerful domains that had supported the anti-shogunate movement, as well as some former shogunate retainers, and was the first absolutist unified government. Relying on this ministry, he pushed forward with reforms to encourage industry that took into consideration traditional industries such as agriculture, forestry, and livestock farming, and on the other hand, through the Satsuma Rebellion (1877), he used force to put down disgruntled samurai rebels who supported his old ally Saigo, and avoided the rise of peasant uprisings by making temporary concessions in the form of a reduction in land taxes, thus overcoming the political crisis of 1877.

Since the political struggles of the late Edo period, Toshimichi's political actions had always been closely tied to the center of power, and since the establishment of the Ministry of Home Affairs, he had been an absolutist bureaucrat who promoted dictatorial rule using the Ministry as a base, which led to criticism from disgruntled samurai such as Shimada Ichiro, and he was assassinated on May 14, 1878, on Kioi Hill in Tokyo. Toshimichi's political abilities were the most outstanding among the government bureaucrats of the time, in terms of his sharp ability to see into the future and his steady gradualism based on reality, but on the other hand, he is also said to have had a cold-hearted and ruthless personality.

[Hiromi Ishizuka]

"The Life of Okubo Toshimichi" by Katsuta Magoya, 3 volumes (1910-1911, Dobunkan Publishing)" ▽ "Okubo Toshimichi" by Mori Toshihiko (1969, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" ▽ "Okubo Toshimichi" edited by Sasaki Masaru (Kodansha Academic Library)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末・明治前期の政治家。木戸孝允(きどたかよし)、西郷隆盛(さいごうたかもり)とともに「維新三傑」の一人。薩摩(さつま)藩下級武士の出身。正助、一蔵と称し、のちに利通と改め、また甲東(こうとう)と号した。その生涯は、幕末討幕派の下級武士から維新政府官僚に成長、転身する前半と、政府の最高の実権者として独裁体制を確立し、富国強兵のための開明的政策を順次施行した後半の2期に区分できよう。利通は文政(ぶんせい)13年8月10日鹿児島城下高麗(こうらい)町で生まれ、まもなく加治屋(かじや)町に移住。生家は西郷隆盛の家格と同じく、御小姓組(おこしょうぐみ)に属した。利通は17歳で記録所書役助に任ぜられたが、1849年（嘉永2）に起こった薩摩藩主の家督争いである「お由良(ゆら)騒動」（別に「高崎崩れ」ともいう）に巻き込まれ、父利世が流罪になったため、一家は困窮した。このとき利通は藩内の尊攘派(そんじょうは)下士たちと交わり、政治に開眼した。その後、同藩内の高崎派が支持する島津斉彬(しまづなりあきら)が家督を継いで藩の実権を握ると、父利世は赦免された。

　そのころ利通は、「名君」といわれた藩主斉彬のもとで西郷隆盛らと志を通じ、同藩の改革派下士層の中心として活躍を始めた。しかし、1858年（安政5）斉彬の死去、安政(あんせい)の大獄を契機に、利通は島津久光(ひさみつ)（斉彬の異母弟）のもとで藩の意見の統一を図り、公武合体運動を推進する方向で活躍した。久光の引き立てによって、利通は1860年（万延1）勘定方小頭(こがしら)、ついで御小納戸(おこなんど)頭取へ昇任し、藩政の中枢へ進出した。当時、彼は藩政指導層と下士層を結ぶかなめにあり、しだいに藩政の実権を掌握する立場に接近した。1866年（慶応2）、かねて西郷と提携して活躍していた利通は、長州藩士品川弥二郎(しながわやじろう)らとも結び、さらに討幕派公卿(くぎょう)の岩倉具視(いわくらともみ)をも引き入れ薩長同盟を締結するに及び、その立場は藩政の方針を超えて、公武合体から武力討幕へと転換するに至った。こうして利通らは、朝廷より薩摩藩あてに討幕の密勅を下賜させることに成功し、討幕派の有力者として王政復古の大号令発布を実現させ、明治維新の指導者となった。

　新政府の成立とともに、利通はその指導者の一人として、参与から徴士(ちょうし)そして参与内国事務局判事、さらに参議へ昇任して内政の中枢を握り、また木戸孝允らとともに、版籍奉還、ついで廃藩置県を断行した。当時、元討幕派公卿と薩長土肥などの旧西南雄藩出身者から構成される雄藩連合政権のもとで、大蔵省を拠点に木戸と結んでいた大蔵卿(きょう)大隈重信(おおくましげのぶ)の開明的姿勢と比べて、利通は保守的そして漸進的態度をとり、その政治勢力も木戸―大隈らのそれに一歩譲っていた。しかし廃藩置県の直前に、大蔵卿に就任すると、政府財政の基礎確立のため地租改正を提案し、のちに地租改正事務局総裁としてその事業にあたり、また富国強兵を目ざして、殖産興業政策を発足させることになる。それに先だって、1871年（明治4）、利通は、岩倉具視特命全権大使が率いる遣外使節団の米欧巡回に副使として加わり、米欧先進諸国を視察し、とくにイギリスでは工業と貿易の発展、プロイセンでは軍事力の拡充などに注目、強い衝撃を受けた。

　約1か年半余りの外遊から帰国した利通は、その対外経験から、国力充実の必要を説き、西郷らの征韓論を退け、彼らを下野させたのち、内政担当の中央官庁である内務省の新設を構想して、1873年にそれを発足させた。当時、同省は勧業、警保の2寮を中心に殖産行政と警察行政を担当、資本主義の育成と民衆運動に対する治安取締りにあたり、利通が参議内務卿として独裁支配を振るう基盤となった。いわゆる「大久保政権」とは、旧討幕派雄藩出身の政府官僚を中心に、一部の旧幕臣出身者などを含めて固めた内務省中心の大久保専制支配であり、最初の絶対主義統一政権であった。同省に依拠した彼は、一方で農林、牧畜部門などの在来産業に配慮した殖産興業改策を進め、そして他方で、西南戦争（1877）を通じて、旧盟友の西郷を支持する不平士族反乱軍を武力鎮圧するとともに、地租軽減の一時的譲歩で農民一揆(いっき)の高揚を回避し、1877年の政治危機を乗り越えた。

　幕末政争以来、利通の政治的行動は、終始権力の中枢に密着し、内務省開設以後は同省を基盤に独裁政治を進めた絶対主義官僚であったため、不平士族の島田一郎らに批判され、明治11年5月14日東京の紀尾井(きおい)坂で暗殺された。利通の政治的力量は、将来についての鋭い展望の能力と、現実に立脚した着実な漸進主義という点で、当時の政府官僚群のなかではもっとも優れていたが、反面、冷徹で非情な性格の持ち主でもあったといわれる。

［石塚裕道］

『勝田孫彌著『大久保利通伝』全3巻（1910～1911・同文舘出版）』▽『毛利敏彦著『大久保利通』（1969・中央公論社）』▽『佐々木克監修『大久保利通』（講談社学術文庫）』

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