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{{short description|Japanese politician (1838–1922)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Page numbers needed|date=September 2010}}
{{family name hatnote|Ōkuma|lang=Japanese}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Marquess]]
| name = Ōkuma Shigenobu
| native_name = {{nobold|{{linktext|大隈}} {{linktext|重信}}}}
| native_name_lang = ja
| image = Shigenobu_Okuma_5.jpg
| office = [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch = [[Emperor Taishō|Taishō]]
| term_start = April 16, 1914
| term_end = October 9, 1916
| predecessor = [[Yamamoto Gonnohyōe]]
| successor = [[Terauchi Masatake]]
| monarch1 = [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]]
| term_start1 = June 30, 1898
| term_end1 = November 8, 1898
| predecessor1 = [[Itō Hirobumi]]
| successor1 = [[Yamagata Aritomo]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1838|3|11}}
| birth_place = [[Saga, Saga|Saga]], [[Tokugawa shogunate|Japan]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1922|1|10|1838|3|11}}
| death_place = [[Tokyo]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| party = [[Rikken Kaishintō]] {{small|(1882–1896)}}<br />[[Shimpotō]] {{small|(1896–1898)}}<br />[[Kenseitō|Kensei Hontō]] {{small|(1898–1908)}}<br />[[Independent politician|Independent]] {{small|(1908–1914)}}<br />[[Rikken Dōshikai]] {{small|(1914–1922)}}
| spouse = Ōkuma Ayako
| signature = OkumaS kao.png
}}

[[Marquess]] '''{{Nihongo|Ōkuma Shigenobu|{{linktext|大隈}} {{linktext|重信}}|extra=March 11, 1838 – January 10, 1922}}''' was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the [[Meiji oligarchy]]. He served as [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] of the [[Empire of Japan]] in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and [[Western culture|culture]] in Japan, and founder of [[Waseda University]]. He is considered a [[centrist]].

==Early life==

'''Ōkuma''' '''Hachitarō''' was born on March 11, 1838, in [[Saga, Saga|Saga]], [[Hizen Province]] (modern day [[Saga Prefecture]]),<ref name="Borton, p. 91">Borton, p. 91.</ref> the first son of Ōkuma Nobuyasu and Miiko.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Itō |first=Yukio |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1201259749 |title=Ōkuma Shigenobu |last2=伊藤之雄 |date=2019 |isbn=978-4-12-102550-0 |pages=17–18 |oclc=1201259749}}</ref> His father was a [[samurai]]-class [[artillery]] officer of the [[Saga Domain]],<ref name="Borton, p. 91" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=大隈重信 {{!}} 近代日本人の肖像 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/datas/33.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-12-10 |website=National Diet Library |language=ja}}</ref> and the family were a high-ranking samurai family who had a 300 ''[[koku]]'' territory.<ref name=":0" />

At the age of seven, he entered the domain school Kōdōkan and studied mainly [[Confucianism|Confucian]] [[Chinese literature|literature]], the teachings of [[Cheng–Zhu school]] in particular. In 1854, he rebelled against the education of the school with his fellow students. He was expelled the next year for rioting.<ref name=":0" /> At this point, he had moved to a [[rangaku|Dutch studies]] institution.<ref name="Borton, p. 91" />

The Dutch school was merged with the provincial school in 1861, and Ōkuma took up a lecturing position there shortly afterward. Ōkuma sympathized with the ''[[sonnō jōi]]'' movement, which aimed at expelling the Europeans who had started to arrive in Japan. However, he also advocated mediation between the rebels in [[Nagato Province|Chōshū]] and the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in [[Edo]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

During a trip to [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], Ōkuma met a Dutch missionary named [[Guido Verbeck]], who taught him the [[English language]] and provided him with copies of the [[New Testament]] and the American [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]],<ref>Brownas, heading "A Wider Window on the West"</ref> as well as works on scientific subjects. The political works are often said{{who|date=October 2011}} to have affected his political thinking profoundly,{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} and encouraged him to support efforts to abolish the existing [[feudal system]] and work toward the establishment of a [[constitution]]al government.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=61}}

Ōkuma frequently traveled between Nagasaki and [[Kyoto]] in the following years and became active in the [[Meiji Restoration]]. In 1867, together with [[Soejima Taneomi]], he planned to recommend resignation to the ''[[shōgun]]'' [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]].<ref name="Borton, p. 91"/> Leaving [[Saga Domain]] without permission, they went to Kyoto, where the ''shōgun'' then resided.<ref>Tokugawa, p. 161. Unlike all 14 previous Tokugawa ''shōguns'', Yoshinobu never set foot in Edo during his tenure.</ref> However, Ōkuma and his companions were arrested and sent back to Saga. They were subsequently sentenced to one month imprisonment.

==Meiji period political life==

[[File:Okuma_Shigenobu2.jpg|thumb|left|Ōkuma Shigenobu as a young man.]]

Following the [[Boshin War]] of the [[Meiji Restoration]] in 1868, Okuma was placed in charge of foreign affairs for the new [[Meiji government]]. At this time, he negotiated with British diplomat, Sir [[Harry Smith Parkes]] on the ban of Christianity and insisted on maintaining the government's persecution on Catholics in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}

In 1873, the Japanese government removed the ban on Christianity.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

He was soon given an additional post as head of Japan's monetary reform program. He made use of his close contacts with [[Inoue Kaoru]] to secure a position in the central government in [[Tokyo]]. He was elected to the first [[Diet of Japan]] in 1870 and soon became [[Minister of Finance (Japan)|Minister of Finance]], in which capacity he instituted property and taxation reforms that aided Japan's early industrial development.<ref>Borton, p. 78.</ref> He presided over the commission which represented the Japanese government at the [[1873 Vienna World's Fair]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=62}}

He also unified the nation's currency, created the national mint, and a separate [[Ministry of Industry (Japan)|Minister of Industry]]; however, he was dismissed in 1881 after a long series of disagreements with members of the [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] and [[Chōshū Domain|Chōshū]] clique in the [[Meiji oligarchy]], most notably [[Itō Hirobumi]], over his efforts to secure foreign loans, to establish a constitution, and especially over his exposure of illicit property dealings involving [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Kuroda Kiyotaka]] and others from Satsuma.

In 1882, Ōkuma co-founded the Constitutional Progressive Party ''([[Rikken Kaishintō]])'' which soon attracted a number of other leaders, including [[Yukio Ozaki|Ozaki Yukio]] and [[Inukai Tsuyoshi]]. That same year, Ōkuma founded the ''Tokyo Senmon Gakkō'' ({{lang|ja|東京専門学校}}) in the Waseda district of [[Tokyo]]. The school later became [[Waseda University]], one of the country's most prominent institutions of higher education.<ref>Beasley, p. 105.</ref>

Despite their continuing animosity, Itō again appointed Ōkuma to the post of [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Foreign Minister]] in February 1888 to deal with the difficult issue of negotiation revisions to the "[[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]]" with the Western powers. The treaty he negotiated was perceived by the public as too conciliatory to the Western powers, and created considerable controversy. Ōkuma was attacked by a member of the ''[[Genyōsha|Gen'yōsha]]'' in 1889, and his right leg was blown off by a bomb.<ref>Beasley, p. 159.</ref> He retired from politics at that time.

However, he returned to politics in 1896 by reorganizing the ''Rikken Kaishintō'' into the ''[[Shimpotō]]'' (Progressive Party).{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} In 1897, [[Matsukata Masayoshi]] convinced Ōkuma to participate in his second administration as Foreign Minister and [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Agriculture and Commerce Minister]], but again, he remained in office for only one year before resigning as a result of intrigues involving the prime minister.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=62}}

In June 1898, Ōkuma co-founded the ''[[Kenseitō]]'' (Constitutional Government Party), by merging his Shimpotō with [[Itagaki Taisuke]]'s ''[[Liberal Party of Japan (1881)|Jiyūtō]],'' and was appointed by the Emperor to form the first partisan cabinet in Japanese history. The new cabinet survived for only four months before it fell apart due to internal dissension. Ōkuma remained in charge of the party until 1908, when he retired from politics.
[[File:Shigenobu Okuma 2.JPG|thumb|Ōkuma Shigenobu during his premiership]]
After his political retirement, Ōkuma became president of [[Waseda University]] and chairman of the Japan Civilization Society, from which scholars' many translations of European and American texts were published. He also gathered support for Japan's first expedition to [[Antarctica]].

==Taishō period political life==

[[File:Marquess Ōkuma Shigenobu, LCCN2014714019 (cropped).jpg|thumb|465x465px|Marquess Ōkuma Shigenobu in the year before his death]]

At the request of the Emperor, Ōkuma returned to politics during the constitutional crisis of 1914, when the government of [[Yamamoto Gonnohyōe]] was forced to resign in the wake of the [[Siemens scandal]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1922}} Ōkuma organized his supporters, together with the ''[[Rikken Dōshikai]]'' and ''[[Chūseikai]]'' organizations, into a coalition cabinet.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} The 2nd Ōkuma administration was noted for its active foreign policy. Later that year, Japan declared war on the [[German Empire]], thus entering [[World War I]] on the [[Allies of World War I|Allied side]]. However, the government suffered defeat in December, over the army budget.{{sfn|Chisholm|1922}}

In 1915, Ōkuma and [[Katō Takaaki]] drafted the [[Twenty-One Demands]] on [[China]]. Ōkuma won re-election in March of that year, but his second administration was also short-lived. Following the [[Ōura scandal]], Ōkuma's cabinet lost popular support, and its members held mass resignation in October 1915. Still, Ōkuma was persuaded to continue in office for a while, and during the year treaties were concluded with France, Russia and China.{{sfn|Chisholm|1922}} Later in 1916, after a long argument with the ''[[Genrō]]'', Ōkuma resigned as well, and retired from politics permanently, although he remained a member of the [[House of Peers (Japan)|Upper House]] of the [[Diet of Japan]] until 1922. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Supreme [[Order of the Chrysanthemum]] in 1916, and was elevated to the title of ''kōshaku'' ({{lang|ja|侯爵}}) ([[marquis]]) in the ''[[kazoku]]'' peerage system the same year.

Ōkuma returned to Waseda, and died there in 1922.<ref>Beasley, p. 220.</ref> An estimated 300,000 people attended his funeral in Tokyo's [[Hibiya Park]]. He was posthumously conferred with the Collar of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, the nation's highest honour. He was buried at the temple of [[Gokoku-ji]] in Tokyo.

==Honours==
''From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia''

===Peerages===
*Count (May 9, 1887)
*Marquess (July 14, 1916)

===Decorations===
*Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]] (November 2, 1877)
*Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Paulownia Flowers|Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers]] (April 29, 1910)
*Collar of the [[Order of the Chrysanthemum]] (January 10, 1922, posthumous; Grand Cordon: July 14, 1916)

===Court order of precedence===
*Fifth rank, junior grade (1867)
*Fourth rank, junior grade (1868)
*Senior fourth rank (1870)
*Third rank (July 22, 1871)
*Senior third rank (December 26, 1887)
*Second rank (February 17, 1888)
*Senior second rank (June 20, 1898)
*[[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles#Upper ranks|First rank]] (January 10, 1922 – posthumous)

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* Beasley, W.G. (1963). ''The Making of Modern Japan''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
* Borton, Hugh (1955). ''Japan's Modern Century''. New York: The Ronald Press Company.
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Okuma (Shigenobu), Count|display=Okuma (Shigenobu)|volume=20|pages=61–62}}
* {{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Okuma (Shigenobu), Marquess|display=Okuma (Shigenobu)|volume=31|page=1174}}
* Idditti, Smimasa. ''Life of Marquis Shigenobu Okuma: A Maker of New Japan''. Kegan Paul International Ltd. (2006). {{ISBN|0-7103-1186-9}}
* Idditti, Junesay. ''Marquis Shigenobu Okuma – A Biographical Study in the Rise of Democratic Japan''. Hokuseido Press (1956). ASIN: B000IPQ4VQ
* Lebra-Chapman, Joyce. ''Okuma Shigenobu: statesman of Meiji Japan''. Australian National University Press (1973). {{ISBN|0-7081-0400-2}}
* Oka Yoshitake, et al. ''Five Political Leaders of Modern Japan: Ito Hirobumi, Okuma Shigenobu, Hara Takashi, Inukai Tsuyoshi, and Saionji Kimmochi''. University of Tokyo Press (1984). {{ISBN|0-86008-379-9}}
* Tokugawa Munefusa (2005). ''Tokugawa yonhyakunen no naisho-banashi: raibaru bushō-hen'' Tokyo: Bungei-shunju
* Brownas, Sidney DeVere. ''Nagasaki in the Meiji Restoration: Choshu Loyalists and British Arms Merchants''. http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/earns/meiji.html Retrieved on August 7, 2008.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ōkuma Shigenobu}}
* [[Yomiuri Shimbun]]: [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080628TDY01306.htm Less than 30% of primary school students in Japan know historical significance of Ōkuma], 2008.
*[http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/browse/subject/okuma-shigenobu Photograph of Rabindranath Tagore and Count Okuma in Japan in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)]
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Okuma, Shigenobu|short=x}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/022767}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Minister of Agriculture and Commerce]]|years=1897}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Japan]]|years=1898}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Japan]]|years=1914–1916}}
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{{s-aca}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of [[Waseda University]]|years=1907–1922}}
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{{s-end}}

{{Prime Ministers of Japan}}
{{Japanese foreign ministers}}
{{Portal bar|Japan|Asia|Politics|Education|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okuma, Shigenobu}}
[[Category:1838 births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese amputees]]
[[Category:Government ministers with disabilities]]
[[Category:Japanese people of World War I]]
[[Category:Kazoku]]
[[Category:Kenseitō politicians]]
[[Category:Meiji Restoration]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Peers (Japan)]]
[[Category:Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan]]
[[Category:Nabeshima retainers]]
[[Category:People from Saga (city)]]
[[Category:People of Meiji-period Japan]]
[[Category:Rikken Dōshikai politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Japanese politicians]]
[[Category:Rikken Kaishintō politicians]]
[[Category:19th-century Japanese politicians]]
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:Shimpotō politicians]]
[[Category:University and college founders]]
[[Category:Politicians from Saga Prefecture]]
[[Category:Burials in Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese politicians with disabilities]]

Ōkuma Shigenobu - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article