Kiyoura Keigo
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| Kiyoura Keigo | |
 Prime Minister of Japan |
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| In office 7 January 1924 – 11 June 1924 |
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| Preceded by | Yamamoto Gonnohyōe |
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| Succeeded by | Kato Takaaki |
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| Born | 14 February 1850 Kumamoto, Higo Province, Japan |
| Died | 5 November 1942 (aged 92) Tokyo, Japan |
| Political party | none |
| Occupation | Cabinet Minister |
Count Kiyoura Keigo (清浦 奎吾 Kiyoura Keigo?), (14 February 1850 - 5 November 1942) was a Japanese politician and the 23rd Prime Minister of Japan from 7 January 1924 to 11 June 1924.
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[edit] Early life
Kiyoura was born with the name Fujaku in Kamoto-gun, Higo Province, (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture), as the fifth son of a Buddhist priest named Okubo Ryoshi. He studied at the private school of Hirose Tanso from 1865 to 1871. During this time, he befriended Governor Nomura Morihide and took up the name "Kiyoura Keigo."
[edit] Political career
Nomura was appointed governor of Saitama Prefecture in 1873 and appointed Kiyoura to a junior-grade civil service position there.
In 1876, at the age of twenty-seven, Kiyoura joined the Ministry of Justice. He went on to serve as Vice Minister of Justice, and Minister of Justice and while at the Ministry of Justice, he helped draft the Peace Preservation Law of 1887.
In 1891, he was selected as a member of the House of Peers by Imperial nomination. A close ally of Yamagata Aritomo, he was rewarded with numerous cabinet positions, including that of Justice Minister in the second Matsukata and second Yamagata administrations, and Justice, Agriculture and Commerce ministers in the first Katsura administration.
In 1914, while he was Chairman of the Privy Council, Kiyoura received an imperial order appointing him Prime Minister of Japan following Yamamoto Gonnohyoe. However, Kiyoura declined the post because of the controversy involving the ongoing Siemens scandal and Okuma Shigenobu was chosen to become prime minister.
[edit] As Prime Minister
Kiyoura accepted a second imperial order in 1924 and become 23rd Prime Minister of Japan. However, his cabinet was formed at a time when non-partisan, aristocratic cabinets were falling out of favor, and the Diet's lower house held up most of his initiatives for all six months of his administration.
Perhaps the most important event during his term as prime minister was the royal wedding of Crown Prince Hirohito (the future Emperor Shōwa) with Nagako Kuniyoshi (the future Empress Kōjun) on 26 January 1924.
In 1924, he dissolved the House of Representatives (Japan) when faced with the three party coalition of the Kenseikai, Rikken Seiyukai and Kakushin Kurabu which had formed a majority in Diet of more than 150 seats. As a result of his massive rout in the subsequent general election, his cabinet resigned en masse.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Bix, Herbert B. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial (2001). ISBN 0-06-093130-2
- Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Belknap Press; New Ed edition (October 15, 2002). ISBN 0-674-00991-6
- Hane, Mikiso. Modern Japan: A Historical Survey. Westview Press (2001). ISBN 0-8133-3756-9
[edit] External links
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