SNA (Tokyo) — From 1885-1888, Hirobumi Ito served as the first prime minister of Japan. Indeed, he was the principal architect of the modern Cabinet system, inspired by European models but adapted to Japanese circumstances.

Transcript

On December 22, 1885, Hirobumi Ito became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

There was no parliament at this time and no elections in Japan. Ito was selected by the small number of men who governed Meiji Era Japan, all of them from the former samurai domains of Satsuma, now Kagoshima Prefecture, and Choshu, now Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Previously, the Meiji leaders had governed through the Grand Council of State. However, this system had been found wanting, in part because it left the lines of policy authority somewhat unclear, but more because Japan in this period of history was copying European institutions so as to be treated on an equal basis by the European Powers that dominated the world of the late 19th century.

Ito himself was a Choshu man, and one of the most brilliant politicians of his era. He had spent some years living abroad in the United Kingdom and United States, learning about modern technology and systems of government, and he immediately applied those lessons to the Japanese context.

Ito was the principal author of modern Japan’s taxation system, its Imperial Household Law, and the very Cabinet system of which he became the inaugural head.

During Ito first term as Prime Minister, two broad issues dominated the agenda.

First, the fundamental institution building of the modern Japanese state continued. For example, this was the period when Arinori Mori, who was an Ito protege, established the basic outline of Japan’s public education system.

Near the end of Ito’s term, the legislation creating Japan’s local government system, including the establishment of the cities and towns, was also enacted.

The other major issue that faced Ito during his first term was the aggravating problem of the unequal treaties that Japan had been forced to sign with the European Powers in earlier years. Among other things, this meant that most foreigners resident in Japan were not subject to Japanese laws or the court system. The Meiji Japanese leaders had already been trying for years to persuade the European nations to sign treaties that recognized Japan as a civilized, sovereign nation, but to no avail.

Less than a year into his administration, Ito faced the largest controversy associated with the unequal treaties—the Normanton Incident.

The Normanton was a British merchant ship which sank off the coast of Wakayama Prefecture on October 24, 1886. The British crew allowed all 25 Japanese passengers to drown while they saved themselves by taking all the lifeboats. The Japanese public was outraged, but the British consular court nevertheless found the crew “not guilty,” shocking even some European observers.

Despite their best efforts, Ito and his Foreign Minister Kaoru Inoue were never able to make significant progress on the unequal treaties problem. It remained a pending issue on April 30, 1888, when Ito decided to resign as Prime Minister after two years and 131 days in office.

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