| Takahashi Korekiyo 高橋是清 |
|
|---|---|
| 20th Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 15 May 1932 – 26 May 1932 Acting |
|
| Monarch | Shōwa |
| Preceded by | Inukai Tsuyoshi |
| Succeeded by | Saitō Makoto |
| In office 13 November 1921 – 12 June 1922 |
|
| Monarch | Taishō Hirohito (Regent) |
| Preceded by | Uchida Kosai (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Katō Tomosaburō |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 July 1854 Edo, Japan |
| Died | 26 February 1936 (aged 81) Tokyo, Japan |
| Resting place | Tama Reien Cemetery, Fuchū, Tokyo |
| Political party | Rikken Seiyūkai |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Signature | |
Viscount Takahashi Korekiyo (高橋 是清, January 27 July 1854 – 26 February 1936) was a Japanese politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Japan from 13 November 1921 to 12 June 1922. He was known as an expert on finance during his political career.
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Takahashi was born in Edo (modern-day Tokyo), while Japan was still under the Tokugawa shogunate,[1]. He was the illegitimate son of a court painter in residence at Edo Castle, and adopted as the son of Takahashi Kakuji, a low-ranking ashigaru samurai in the service of the Date daimyo of Sendai Domain. He studied English language and American culture in a private school run by the missionary James Hepburn (the forerunner of Meiji University, and went abroad with a son of Katsu Kaishū to study in London. Arriving in England in 1866, he found employment as a manservant. In 1867, he moved from England to Oakland, California in the United States, and found employment as a menial laborer.
After his return to Japan in 1868, Takahashi taught English conversation, and later became the first master of the Kyōritsu Gakkō high school in Tokyo, (currently Kaisei High School) and at the same time worked as a low-ranking governmental bureaucrat in the Ministry of Education, later the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. He was appointed as the first chief of the Bureau of Patents which was a department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and helped organized the patent system in Japan. At one point, he resigned his government positions and went to Peru to start an enterprise but failed.
Takahashi became an employee of the Bank of Japan in 1892, and his talents were soon recognized, as he rose to become vice-president in 1898.
For his success in raising the foreign loans critical to the Japanese government during and after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he was appointed to the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan in 1905.
Takahashi was named president of the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1906. He was made a baron (danshaku) under the kazoku peerage system in 1907.
Takahashi was Governor of the Bank of Japan from June 1, 1911 through February 20, 1913.[2]
In 1913, Takahashi was appointed as the Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyōe and then joined the Rikken Seiyūkai political party . He was appointed to the same office by Prime Minister Hara Takashi in 1918. In 1920, Takahashi's title was elevated to viscount (shishaku). After Hara was assassinated in 1921, Takahashi was appointed both Prime Minister and the Rikken Seiyūkai party president.
Becoming the second Christian Prime Minister in Japanese history, Takahashi's term lasted less than seven months, primarily due to his inability as an outsider to control the various factions within his own party, and his lack of his own power base within the party.
After resigning as Prime Minister, Takahashi still retained the position of president of the Rikken Seiyūkai. He resigned his seat in the House of Peers in 1924, and was elected to a seat in the Lower House of the Diet of Japan in the 1924 General Election. When Katō Takaaki became the prime minister and set up a coalition cabinet 1924, Takahashi accepted the post of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. He divided the department into the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Takahashi resigned from the Rikken Seiyūkai in 1925.
Takahashi continued to serve as Finance Minister under the administrations of Tanaka Giichi (1927-1929), Inukai Tsuyoshi (1931-1932), Saitō Makoto (1932-1934) and Okada Keisuke (1934-1936). Despite his considerable success in fighting the effects of the Great Depression of 1929, his fiscal policies involving reduction of military expenditures created many enemies within the military, and he was among those assassinated by rebelling military officers in the February 26 Incident of 1936. His grave is at the Tama Reien Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo.[3]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Korekiyo_Takahashi Korekiyo Takahashi] at Wikimedia Commons
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Shigeyoshi Matsuo |
Governor of the Bank of Japan Jun 1911– Feb 1913 |
Succeeded by Yatarō Mishima |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Wakatsuki Reijirō |
Minister of Finance Feb 1913– Apr 1914 |
Succeeded by Wakatsuki Reijirō |
| Preceded by Kazue Shōda |
Minister of Finance Sept 1918– Jun 1922 |
Succeeded by Otohiko Ichiki |
| Preceded by Hara Takashi |
Prime Minister of Japan Nov 1921– Jun 1922 |
Succeeded by Katō Tomosaburō |
| Preceded by Toshisada Maeda |
Minister of Agriculture & Commerce Jun 1924– Apr 1925 |
Succeeded by position abolished |
| Preceded by none |
Minister of Commerce & Industry Apr 1925– Apr 1925 |
Succeeded by Noda Utarō |
| Preceded by none |
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Apr 1925– Apr 1925 |
Succeeded by Okazaki Kunisuke |
| Preceded by Seinosuke Yokota |
Minister of Justice Feb 1925– Feb 1925 |
Succeeded by Heikichi Ogawa |
| Preceded by Kataoka Naoharu |
Minister of Finance Apr 1927– Jun 1927 |
Succeeded by Chōzō Mitsuchi |
| Preceded by Junnosuke Inoue |
Minister of Finance Dec 1931– Jul 1934 |
Succeeded by Sadanobu Fujii |
| Preceded by Sadanobu Fujii |
Minister of Finance Nov 1934– Feb 1936 |
Succeeded by Chōji Machida |