Takeru Inukai

Takeru Inukai
Khuyển dưỡng kiện
Inukai Takeru in 1932
Minister of Justice
In office 30 October 1952 – 22 April 1954
Preceded by	Tokutarō Kimura
Succeeded by	Ryōgorō Katō
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 21 February 1930 – 28 August 1960
Constituency	Okayama 2nd
Personal details
Born	(1896-07-28)28 July 1896 Tokyo,Japan
Died	28 August 1960(1960-08-28)(aged 64) Tokyo,Japan
Resting place	Aoyama Cemetery,Tokyo
Children	Yasuhiko Inukai Michiko Inukai Kazu Ando
Parent	Tsuyoshi Inukai(father)
Relatives	Momoko Ando(granddaughter) Sakura Ando(granddaughter)
Alma mater	Tokyo Imperial University
Occupation	Writer(novels, stage plays)

Takeru Inukai(Khuyển dưỡng kiện,Inukai Takeru,28 July 1896 – 28 August 1960)was a Japanese politician and novelist active inShōwa periodJapan. Also known as "Inukai Ken", he was the third son ofPrime Minister of JapanInukai Tsuyoshi.

Early life

Inukai was born in theUshigomedistrict ofTokyo,the son ofTsuyoshi Inukai,then a member of theHouse of RepresentativesfromOkayama.Their family had been village headmen during theEdo period.In 1907 his elder sister married the diplomatKenkichi Yoshizawa.

Inukai attended the School of Philosophy inTokyo Imperial University,but he left without graduating and became a writer. Interested in literature from his student days, he gravitated to theShirakaba( "White Birch" ) literary society due to its liberal and humanistic outlook. His works were influenced byMushanokōji SaneatsuandNagayo Yoshirō.He became a member of the Japanese chapter of theInternational PEN.Inukai married Nagayo's niece Nakako

In the1930 House of Representatives election,Inukai was elected for theRikken Seiyūkaiparty to a constituency in Tokyo. The following year his father was appointed prime minister and Inukai became as his secretary.

Tsuyoshi Inukai was assassinated in theMay 15 Incidentof 1932. The assassins had also intended to kill the comedianCharlie Chaplin,who was a guest of the prime minister, but Takeru Inukai had taken Chaplin to see a sumo match, likely saving both their lives. After his father's death, Inukai left his Tokyo constituency to take over his father's constituency in Okayama.

Inukai served as parliamentary counsellor to theMinistry of Communicationsunder the firstKonoecabinet. When theRikken Seiyūkaisplit in 1939, he was part of the neutral faction led byTsuneo Kanemitsu.He was held for questioning by the police in relation to theSorge Spy Incident.

As his father had always supported friendly relations with China, Inukai had contacts and good relations with Chinese politicians during the pre-war period. After his father's assassination in theMay 15 Incident,he continued to strive for restoration of good Sino-Japanese relations, and especially provided support to theWang Jingweigovernment in hopes that it would bring the stability that would allow Japan to withdraw its troops from the China quagmire. Thus throughout 1938 until the formation of theReorganized National Government of the Republic of Chinain 1940, he negotiated withGao ZongwuandMei Sipingto come to a peace agreement withChiang Kai-shek,and after failing that, to organize the defection of Wang Jingwei.

In the1942 General Election,Inukai was reelected as an independent candidate opposing theImperial Rule Assistance Association.

Post-war career

After thesurrender of Japanin 1945, Inukai was appointed parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs under theShideharacabinet. He also helped organize theJapan Progressive Party,the largest party in the diet by far when it was formed. However, as many Diet members had been affiliated to the Imperial Rule Assistance Association the party was severely hurt bypurges.Out of 273 Diet members at the party's foundation 259 were purged. Inukai was an exception, as he had remained an independent throughout the war.

The party recovered somewhat in the 1946 election and became the second party after theJapan Liberal Partyled byIchiro Hatoyama.Hatoyama himself was purged and replaced withShigeru Yoshida.The two parties formed a ruling coalition in the first Yoshida cabinet.

In March 1947 the Japan Progressive Party merged with a dissident faction led byHitoshi Ashidain the Liberal Party to form theDemocratic Party.Ashida became president of the party. After the 1947 election the new party formed a coalition government with theJapan Socialist Partyled byTetsu Katayama,with Katayama as prime minister and Ashida as deputy prime minister and foreign minister. The Katayama cabinet was brought down by internal dissension in 1948. Ashida took over as prime minister and tried to hold the coalition together, but had to resign in October 1948 due to bribery scandals. Yoshida then returned as prime minister. Ashida was arrested in December and Inukai took over as president of the Democratic Party.

After the1949 general election,in which Yoshida was victorious, Inukai led the faction in his party which favoured coalition with Yoshida, but most of the party opposed this. In the end Inukai led his faction to merge with Yoshida's party to form the newLiberal Partyin 1950.

Inukai joined the cabinet asMinister of Justicein October 1952. In theShipbuilding Scandal of 1954,Prime Minister Yoshida pressured Inukai to use his prerogative as Minister of Justice to suspend the arrest of the secretary general of the Liberal PartyEisaku Satōfor alleged corruption. Inukai did so, but resigned as Minister of Justice the following day.

Inukai participated in the conservative merger of the Liberal Party and theDemocratic Partyto form theLiberal Democratic Partyin 1955.

Inukai died in 1960 at the age of 64. His grave is located atAoyama Cemeteryin Tokyo.His sonYasuhikowas president ofKyodo News,and his daughterMichiko(d. 2017) was an author and a philanthropist.

References

• Hoshii, Iwao. Japan's Pseudo-democracy. Routledge. (1993).ISBN1873410077
• Mitchell, Richard H. Political bribery in Japan. University of Hawaii Press (1996)ISBN0824818199
• Stockwin. J.A.A. Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan. Taylor & Francis. (2003).ISBN0203402170