Yamamoto Gonnohyōe
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| Count Yamamoto Gonbei | |
|---|---|
| 26 November 1852 - 8 December 1933 | |
 Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Gonbei |
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| Nickname | Gonnohyōe |
| Place of birth | Kagoshima, Satsuma, Japan |
| Place of death | Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service/branch |  Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Years of service | 1879 - 1928 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Battles/wars | Boshin War First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War |
| Awards | Collar & Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum Order of the Golden Kite (1st class) |
| Other work | Prime Minister of Japan |
- In this Japanese name, the family name is Yamamoto.
Yamamoto Gonbee (山本権兵衛 Yamamoto Gonbee/Gonnohyōe?) (26 November 1852–8 December 1933), also called Gonnohyōe[1], was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and the 16th (20 February 1913–16 April 1914) and 22nd (2 September 1923–7 January 1924) Prime Minister of Japan.
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[edit] Early life
Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima in Satsuma Province (now Kagoshima Prefecture) as the son of samurai who served the Shimazu clan. As a youth, he took part in the Anglo-Satsuma War. He later joined Satsuma's Eighth Rifle Troop; in the Boshin War that ended the Tokugawa bakufu, fighting at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi and other locations; he was also aboard one of the ships that pursued Enomoto Takeaki to Hokkaidō in 1869.
[edit] Naval career
After the success of the Meiji Restoration, Yamamoto attended preparatory schools in Tokyo, entering the 2nd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1870. After graduation in 1874, he went on a training cruise to Europe and South America aboard German navy vessels from 1877-78, and as junior officer acquired much sea experience. He wrote a gunnery manual that became the standard for the Imperial Japanese Navy and served as executive officer of the cruiser Naniwa on its shakedown voyage from Elswick to Japan (1885-86). Afterwards, he accompanied Navy Minister Kabayama Sukenori on a trip to the United States and Europe (1887-88).
As commander of the cruiser Takao, undertook a confidential mission to meet Qing General Yuan Shikai in Seoul, Korea (1890). Afterwards, he assumed command of the Takachiho.
Working under his patron, Navy Minister Saigō Tsugumichi from 1893, Yamamoto became the real leader of the navy; initiating numerous reforms, attempting to end favoritism toward officers of his own Satsuma province, attempting to end officers from profiteering from military office, and attempting to attain roughly equal status with the army in the Supreme War Council. He also pushed for an aggressive strategy toward China in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95).
His subsequent rise through the ranks was rapid: rear admiral (1895); vice admiral and Navy Minister (1898); danshaku (baron) (1902); admiral (1904); hakushaku (count) (1907); and Prime Minister (1913-14).
As Minister of the Navy during the Russo-Japanese War, he showed strong leadership and was responsible for appointing Tōgō Heihachirō as commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet.
[edit] As Prime Minister
During his first term as the prime minister, he abolished the rule that both the Navy Minister and Army Minister had to be active duty officers, and he had a reputation for being a liberal and a supporter of public claims for democracy and constitutional government. However, his administration was plagued by charges of corruption, and he was forced to resign with his entire cabinet to take responsibility for the Siemens-Vickers Naval Armaments scandal, though he was never proven to have been involved personally.
Yamamoto was transferred to naval reserve in 1914; but recalled to become Prime Minister again in the emergency crisis "earthquake cabinet" (1923-24) following the Great Kantō Earthquake. He showed leadership in the restoration of Tokyo which had been heavily damaged by the earthquake, and attempted to reform the electoral system to permit universal male suffrage.
However, he and his cabinet resigned again in January 1924, this time over the attempt by Namba Daisuke to assassinate Prince Regent Hirohito on 27 December 1923 (the Toranomon Incident), and he subsequently withdrew from political life completely.
Shortly before his death in 1933, he was awarded the Collar & Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum, the highest possible award in the Japanese honors system.
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
- Schencking, J. Charles (2005). Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868-1922. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-4977-9.
- Sims, Richard (2005). Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23915-7.
[edit] External links
- National Diet Library photos and biography
- Nishida, Hiroshi. Materials of IJN: Yamamoto, Gonbei. Imperial Japanese Navy. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
[edit] Notes
| Preceded by Saigo Tsugumichi |
Minister of the Navy of Japan Nov 1898 - Jan 1906 |
Succeeded by Saito Makoto |
| Preceded by Yasuya Uchida |
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan 1923 |
Succeeded by Hikokichi Ijuin |
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