Inoue Kaoru

Marquess Inoue Kaoru GCMG
Giếng thượng hinh
Marquis Inoue Kaoru
Minister for Foreign AffairsofJapan
In office 22 December 1885 – 17 September 1887
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Itō Hirobumi
Minister of Agriculture and Commerce
In office 25 July 1888 – 23 December 1889
Preceded by	Kuroda Kiyotaka
Succeeded by	Iwamura Michitoshi
Minister of Home Affairs
In office 8 August 1892 – 15 October 1894
Preceded by	Kōno Togama
Succeeded by	Nomura Yasushi
Minister of Finance
In office 12 January 1898 – 30 June 1898
Preceded by	Matsukata Masayoshi
Succeeded by	Matsuda Masahisa
Personal details
Born	(1836-01-16)16 January 1836 Yuda,Chōshū Domain,Japan
Died	1 September 1915(1915-09-01)(aged 79) Shizuoka,Japan
Nickname	Shiji Bunta(Chí nói nghe nhiều)

In thisJapanese name,thesurnameisInoue.

MarquessInoue KaoruGCMG( giếng thượng hinh, January 16, 1836 – September 1, 1915) was aJapanesepoliticianand a prominent member of theMeiji oligarchyduring theMeiji periodof theEmpire of Japan.As one of the senior statesmen (Genrō) in Japan during that period, he had a tremendous influence on the selection of the nation's leaders and formation of its policies.

Early years

Inoue Kaoru as a young samurai.

Born Yakichi ( dũng cát ) to a lower-rankedsamuraifamily in Yuda,Chōshū domain(present dayYamaguchi,Yamaguchi Prefecture), Inoue attended theMeirinkandomain schoolwith his brother Ikutarō ( mấy quá lang ). He was a close boyhood friend ofItō Hirobumiwho later became Japan's firstprime minister,and he played an active part in thesonnō jōimovement. In 1858, he studiedrangaku,artilleryandswordsmanshipinEdo.

In theBakumatsu period,Inoue emerged as a leader of the anti-foreigner movement in his native Chōshū. Desiring to rid Japan of foreigners, he andTakasugi Shinsakuset fire to the British legation in Edo in January 1863.

Recognizing Japan's need to learn from the Western powers, Inoue joined theChōshū Fiveand was smuggled out of Japan to study atUniversity College, LondoninEnglandin 1863. When he returned with Itō Hirobumi, he unsuccessfully tried to prevent war (theBattle of Shimonoseki) between Chōshū and the Western naval powers over the closing of theStraits of Shimonosekito foreign shipping. Later, he fought against the forces of theTokugawa shogunatein the 1864First Chōshū Expedition,during which he was severely wounded by the attack of the assassins, received a near-fatal injury, appealing to Inoue's elder brother for beheading because of the unbearable pain and finallyIkutaro Tokorowho was then in hiding from the pursuit of Tokugawa shogunate withPrince Sanjō Sanetomiand rushed to Inoue pulled him through this by putting about 50 stitches oftatamineedle in the wounds on the whole body without anesthesia because of emergency during the domestic war time (The story that Inoue's mother holding bloody Inoue then dissuaded her elder son from beheading was introduced in the National Japanese text book of the 5th period as the power of mother).He later played a key role in the formation of theSatchō Allianceagainst the Tokugawa shogunate.

Statesman in the Meiji government

Inoue Kaoru, 1880s

After theMeiji Restoration,Inoue served in several important positions in the newMeiji government.He was appointedVice Minister of Financein 1871 and was influential in reorganizing government finances on modern lines, especially in thereform of the land tax system,termination of government stipends to the ex-samuraiand former aristocracy and for promoting industrialization. Closely linked to business circles, including the emergingMitsuizaibatsu,he was also involved in the railway business. These measures created many political enemies, and Inoue was forced to resign in May 1873. Inoue took part in theOsaka Conference of 1875to support the creation of a representativenational assembly.

In 1876, Inoue was asked to assist in the field of foreign affairs, and was involved in the conclusion of theJapan-Korea Treaty of 1876as vice-ambassador extraordinary andplenipotentiary.He returned to government asMinister of Public Worksin 1878 and Lord of Foreign Affairs in 1879 under the early MeijiDajō-kanCabinet. In 1884, he was elevated to the rank ofcount(hakushaku) under the newkazokupeerage system.

In December 1885, Inoue officially became Japan's firstMinister of Foreign Affairsbearing that title in the firstItō Hirobumicabinet. However, Inoue came under public criticism for his failure to negotiate a revision of theunequal treaties,his building of theRokumeikan,and support of its Westernizing influences, which forced him to resign in August 1887.

Later he served asMinister of Agriculture and Commercein theKurodaadministration, asHome Ministerin the second Itō administration and again as Finance Minister in the 3rd Itō administration.

From 1901 onwards, Inoue served as most senior of thegenrō,and considered himself the government's foremost advisor on financial affairs. He was advanced to the title of marquis (kōshaku) in 1907, and died in 1915 at his summer home atOkitsu-juku,Shizuoka prefecture.

Honours

From the article in the Japanese Wikipedia

Japanese

• Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Rising Sun(February 10, 1879)
• Count (July 7, 1884)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (October 7, 1895)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum(April 1, 1906)
• Marquess(September 21, 1907)
• Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum(September 1, 1915; posthumous)

Foreign

• Honorary Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of St. Michael and St. George(GCMG) (February 20, 1906)
• Grand Cross of theLegion of Honourof France

See also

• List of Ambassadors from Japan to South Korea

Further reading

• Akamatsu, Paul. (1972).Meiji 1868: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Japan(trans., Miriam Kochan). New York: Harper & Row.
• Beasley, William G.(1972).The Meiji Restoration.Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• __________. (1995).The Rise of Modern Japan: Political, Economic and Social Change Since 1850.New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Cobbing, Andrew (2010). “Inoue Kaoru (1836–1915): A Controversial Meiji Statesman”. inBiographical Portraits.Leiden: BRILL.
• Craig, Albert M.(1961).Chōshū in the Meiji Restoration.Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Jansen, Marius B.andGilbert Rozman,eds. (1986).Japan in Transition: from Tokugawa to Meiji.Princeton:Princeton University Press.ISBN9780691054599;OCLC 12311985

External links

• Media related toInoue Kaoruat Wikimedia Commons
• National Diet Library bio
• "Inouye, Kaoru, Marquess".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). 1911.