Saionji Kinmochi
Saionji Kinmochi | |
|---|---|
西園寺 公望 | |
| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 30 August 1911 – 21 December 1912 | |
| Monarchs | Meiji Taishō |
| Preceded by | Katsura Tarō |
| Succeeded by | Katsura Tarō |
| In office 7 January 1906 – 14 July 1908 | |
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Katsura Tarō |
| Succeeded by | Katsura Tarō |
| President of the Privy Council | |
| In office 27 August 1900 – 13 July 1903 | |
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Kuroda Kiyotaka |
| Succeeded by | Itō Hirobumi |
| Acting Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 10 May 1901 – 2 June 1901 | |
| Monarch | Meiji |
| Preceded by | Itō Hirobumi |
| Succeeded by | Katsura Tarō |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 3 March 1906 – 19 May 1906 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Katō Takaaki |
| Succeeded by | Hayashi Tadasu |
| In office 30 May 1896 – 22 September 1896 | |
| Prime Minister | Itō Hirobumi Matsukata Masayoshi |
| Preceded by | Mutsu Munemitsu |
| Succeeded by | Ōkuma Shigenobu |
| Minister of Education | |
| In office 12 January 1898 – 30 April 1898 | |
| Prime Minister | Itō Hirobumi |
| Preceded by | Hamao Arata |
| Succeeded by | Toyama Masakazu |
| In office 3 October 1894 – 28 September 1896 | |
| Prime Minister | Itō Hirobumi Matsukata Masayoshi |
| Preceded by | Yoshikawa Akimasa |
| Succeeded by | Hachisuka Mochiaki |
| Member of the House of Peers | |
| In office February 1890 – 24 November 1940 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 December 1849 Kyoto, Yamashiro, Japan |
| Died | 24 November 1940 (aged 90) Okitsu, Shizuoka, Japan |
| Political party | Rikken Seiyūkai |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Tokudaiji Sanetsune (brother) |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Signature | |
Prince Saionji Kinmochi (西園寺 公望; 7 December 1849 – 24 November 1940) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908, and from 1911 to 1912. As the last surviving member of the genrō, the group of senior statesmen who had directed policy during the Meiji era, he was one of the most influential voices in Japanese politics from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s. For much of his career, Saionji worked to diminish the influence of the Imperial Japanese Army in political issues.
Born in Kyoto to a noble family, Saionji took part in the Boshin War and Meiji Restoration of 1868. From 1871 to 1880, he studied European law and political institutions in France, and founded Meiji University in 1881. In 1882, Saionji again traveled to Europe with Itō Hirobumi to study constitutional law. On his return, he joined the Privy Council, serving as its president from 1900 to 1903, and twice served as Minister of Education in Itō's cabinets. In 1900, Saionji assisted Itō in organizing the Rikken Seiyūkai party. Both of Saionji's premierships ended under pressure from an expansionist military. He led the Japanese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and was given the title of prince in 1920. Saionji was on the list of those to be assassinated in the February 26 incident, a failed coup in 1936, but survived and died in 1940.
He was also the last Genrō (elder statesman) of Japan.