Itō Hirobumi : Japan's first prime minister and father of the Meiji Constitution
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Itō Hirobumi : Japan's first prime minister and father of the Meiji Constitution
（Nichibunken monograph series, no. 16）（Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia, 94）
Routledge, 2016, c2014
- : pbk
- Other Title
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Itō Hirobumi : chi no seijika
伊藤博文 : 知の政治家
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Note
"First issued in paperback 2016"--T.p. verso
"International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto"
Includes bibliographical references (p. [222]-235) and index
Chronology: p. [236]-244
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The brilliant and influential statesman, Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909), and the first prime minister of Japan's modern state, has been poorly understood. This biography attempts to set the record straight about Ito's thought and vision for Japan's modernisation based on research in primary sources. It outlines Ito's life: the son of a poor farmer, he showed exceptional talent as a boy and was sent to study in Europe and the United States. He returned home convinced that Western civilisation was the only viable path for Japan. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Ito became a powerful intellectual and political force behind reforms of Japanese laws and institutions aimed to shape a modern government based on informed leadership and a knowledeable populace. Among his many achievements were the establishment of Japan's first constitution-the Meiji Constitution of 1889, and the founding in 1900 of a new type of constitutional party, the Rikken Seiyukai (Friends of Constitutional Government), which, reformulated after 1945, became the Liberal Democratic Party that has dominated Japanese politics in the postwar period. Concerning Ito's role as Japanese Resident-General in Korea from 1905, the author argues that Ito's aim, not understood by either the Japanese home government or Koreans themselves, was not to colonize Korea. He was determined to modernise Korea and consolidate further constitutional reforms in Japan. This aim was not shared by others, and Ito resigned in 1909. He was assassinated the same year in Manchuria by a Korean nationalist. The Japanese language edition of this book is a bestseller in Japan, and it received the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, one of Japan's most prestigious publishing awards.
Table of Contents
1. Encounter with Western Civilization 2. A Constitution for Japan: Building the Foundations 3. Campaigning for Constitution 4. The Seiyukai as a Think-tank 5. Establishment of the Meiji State: Constitutional Reforms of 1907 6. Hero and Advisor to Late-Qing China Reformers 7. The Two Faces of the Resident-General in Korea
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