Yamagata Aritomo
(1838–1922), Japanese soldier and politician. Yamagata Aritomo was a military man and politician from the feudal domain of Choshu (modern Yamaguchi Prefecture). He is not only considered the principal architect of Japan's modern military, but was also one of the most influential figures in Japanese politics during the Meiji (1868– 1912) and Taisho (1912–1926) eras.
Yamagata was born on 14 June 1838 into a lowranking samurai family in Hagi, the castle town of Choshu. He became one of the leaders of the radical loyalist movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and commanded the Kiheitai, a semimodern militiaunit, in the civil wars of 1867–1868. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868 he went abroad to study European military systems. Upon his return in 1873, he assumed leadership of the Army Ministry. He became the driving force behind the introduction of conscription and the reorganization of the army along Prussian-German lines.
General Yamagata c. 1905. (HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS)In the 1880s, Yamagata started an astonishing political career. He served as home minister from 1883 to 1889, during which time he reorganized the ministry, the police, and local government systems. He also served as prime minister from 1889 to 1890 and again from 1898 to 1900.
In his later years, Yamagata retired from active politics but remained a major force behind the scene as the most influential "elder statesman" (genro), the nominal president of the influential Privy Council, and head of a strong political faction including Katsura Taro (1848–1913), Terauchi Masatake (1852–1919), Tanaka Giichi (1863–1929), and others. Yamagata died on 1 February 1922.
Further Reading
Dickinson, Frederick R. (1999) War and National Reinvention: Japan in the Great War, 1914–1919. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Duus, Peter. (1968) Party Rivalry and Political Change in Taisho Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hackett, Roger F. (1971) Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lone, Stewart. (2000) Army, Empire, and Politics in Meiji Japan: The Three Careers of General Katsura Taro. New York: St. Martin's.
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