Takahashi, Korekiyo

Takahashi, Korekiyo (kōrā`kēō tä'kähä`shē), 1854–1936, Japanese statesman and financier. Long an official of the Yokohama Specie Bank, he became its president in 1906, and from 1911 to 1913 he was president of the Bank of Japan. In 1921, after the assassination of Hara Kei, he became prime minister and head of the Seiyukai party, but his cabinet fell in 1922. He was one of Japan's greatest finance ministers, serving in that capacity in 1913–14, 1918–22, 1927, and 1931–36. An advocate of sound government finance, supported by the business interests, he opposed army demands for larger military appropriations and warned against inflation and overexpansion of the national debt. He was assassinated by army extremists in the unsuccessful military coup of Feb. 26, 1936.