SNA (Tokyo) — From 1889-1891, conservative Prime Minister Aritomo Yamagata became prime minister and oversaw Japan’s first parliamentary elections and the first session of the elected Diet, but he soon became tired of battling the elected representatives of the people.

Transcript

On December 24, 1889, Aritomo Yamagata became Japan’s third prime minister.

It had been two months since Kiyotaka Kuroda and his Cabinet had resigned. Yamagata was the consensus choice of the Meiji elite, but it took weeks to convince him to take over the post. He would respond, “I am merely a soldier.”

Yamagata was much more than that. It was he who had overseen the creation of the nation’s modern military forces, and he could reasonably be described as the father of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Moreover, as Home Minister, he had also shaped the creation of Japan’s first modern police forces as well.

Yamagata was emerging at this time, not simply as one of the Meiji Genro, but the most influential of them all—the most powerful political leader in Japan. It was a status that he would keep for decades to come.

If Hirobumi Ito and Shigenobu Okuma represented what might be called the more liberal wing of the Meiji elite, then Yamagata was the undisputed head of the more conservative group. He was also characteristically careful and cautious.

The main task of Yamagata’s government, and one which he dreaded, was to oversee the nation’s first modern elections and its first National Diet.

Yamagata spent almost a year studying and preparing himself for how to handle the elected Diet once it was in place.

The elections themselves were conducted in an orderly and fair fashion on July 1, 1890—although only about 1% of Japan’s population was eligible to vote at this time.

The election results were mostly unfavorable to the regime, with the opposition Liberal Party and Constitutional Reform Party winning a combined majority over government allies.

Although the Meiji Constitution sharply limited the powers of the Diet, there was nevertheless a test of strength between the Yamagata government and the Diet over the budget once the legislature began its first session in November 1890.

Ultimately, the budget battle ended in a compromise.

The other major event of Yamagata’s premiership was the promulgation of the Imperial Rescript on Education, a document which would become the leading text of Japan’s state religion. Yamagata was not the author, but his role was to provide needed political support that helped bring the Rescript to fruition.

Tired of his months-long battle with Japan’s first Diet and struggling to contain disunity within his Cabinet, as well suffering from illness, Aritomo Yamagata resigned as prime minister of Japan on May 6, 1891, after a term in office of 1 year, 134 days.

Aritomo Yamagata will return.

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