Miura Gorō

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Viscount Miura Gorō
1 January 1847 – 28 January 1926
General Miura Gorō
Place of birth	Hagi, Nagato Province, Japan
Place of death	Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Imperial Japanese Army
Battles/wars	Boshin War
Other work	Privy Council

Miura Gorō (三浦梧楼, Miura Gorō ^?), (1 January 1847 – 28 January 1926), was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and, as Japanese minister to the Empire of Korea, is held responsible for ordering the assassination of Queen Min.

Miura was born in Chōshū domain (modern Yamaguchi Prefecture), to a samurai of the Hagi clan. After studying at the Meirinkan clan military academy, he entered the Kiheitai irregular militia of the Chōshū domain and played an active role in the Boshin War to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu. He later held various posts in Army-Navy Ministry and was commander of the Hiroshima District. During the Satsuma Rebellion, he served as commander of the Army’s Third Brigade.

In 1884, he accompanied Oyama Iwao on a tour of Europe, to study the military systems in various western countries. In 1888, after coming into conflict with politicians in the Chōshū clan clique, he was transferred from active duty to the reserves. In November of the same year, he retired and became president of Gakushuin

In 1890, Miura was appointed a member of the House of Peers, and elevated in title to shishaku (viscount).

In 1895, Miura was appointed Japan’s resident minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary in Korea, succeeding Inoue Kaoru. As the political situation in Korea became increasingly unsettled, it is alleged that Miura ordered the assassination of Queen Min of Korea for her pro-Russian and anti-Japanese stance, and assisted in giving the assassins safe passage back to Japan from Incheon. Due to the international outrage over the murder, Miura was recalled and put on trial with the involved military personnel at the Hiroshima District Court where they were found not guilty on the grounds of lack of evidence. [1].

Later, after the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910, Miura became a privy councillor and focused on mediating talks among the heads of the political parties to protect the Constitution.

[edit] References

Bix, Herbert B. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial (2001). ISBN: 0060931302
Duus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910 (Twentieth-Century Japan - the Emergence of a World Power, 4). University of California Press (1998). ISBN: 0520213610.
Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Belknap Press; New Ed edition (October 15, 2002). ISBN: 0674009916
Hane, Mikiso. Modern Japan: A Historical Survey. Westview Press (2001). ISBN: 0813337569
Keane, Donald. Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912. Columbia University Press (2005). ISBN: 0231123418
Sims, Richard. Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 0312239157