Yamagata Aritomo (redirected from Field Marshal Yamagata)

Yamagata Aritomo

(born Aug. 3, 1838, Hagi, Japan—died Feb 1, 1922, Tokyo) First prime minister under Japan's parliamentary regime (1889–91, 1898–1900). As a samurai youth in Choshu province, Yamagata was among those who answered the foreign threat with the slogan “Sonno joi” (“Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians”). In 1864 Western gunboats bombarded the Choshu coast, convincing him of the need for modern armaments. After participating in the Meiji Restoration, he went abroad to research military institutions, returning to become commander of an imperial force of 10,000 troops. When he introduced conscription, bearing arms ceased to be the exclusive prerogative of a warrior class. His forces defeated Saigo Takamori's rebellion in 1877. In politics he was more conservative than his contemporary Ito Hirobumi, favouring a strong executive. As prime minister, his policies were expansionist; Japan sent the largest of all foreign forces to China to quell the Boxer Rebellion. He increased the autonomy of the military and tried to suppress an incipient social-labour movement. After retirement, he continued to wield power as a genro (elder statesman). See also Meiji Constitution; Meiji period.

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Yamagata Aritomo 

Born June 14, 1838, in Yamaguchi Prefecture; died Feb. 1, 1922. Japanese military and political figure; marshal. Prince.

Yamagata played an active role in the bourgeois revolution of 1867–68 (seeMEIJI RESTORATION). He helped initiate the military reforms of 1872. He was commander of the guards and chief of the General Staff from 1878 to 1885, home minister from 1885 to 1888, and prime minister from 1889 to 1891 and from 1898 to 1900. During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, Yamagata commanded the Japanese First Army. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 he was chief of the Japanese General Staff. In 1909 he became chairman of the Privy Council, an advisory body to the emperor. Yamagata was a member of the Genro.