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Japan Political Rivalries
After the bitter political rivalries between the
inception of
the Diet in 1890 and 1894, when the nation was unified for
the war
effort against China, there followed five years of unity,
unusual
cooperation, and coalition cabinets. From 1900 to 1912,
the Diet
and the cabinet cooperated even more directly, with
political
parties playing larger roles. Throughout the entire
period, the old
Meiji oligarchy retained ultimate control but steadily
yielded
power to the opposition parties. The two major figures of
the
period were Yamagata Aritomo, whose long tenure
(1868-1922) as a
military and civil leader, including two terms as prime
minister,
was characterized by his intimidation of rivals and
resistance to
democratic procedures, and It , who was a compromiser and,
although
overruled by the genro, wanted to establish a
government
party to control the House during his first term. When Ito
returned
as prime minister in 1898, he again pushed for a
government party,
but when Yamagata and others refused, Ito resigned. With
no willing
successor among the genro, the Kenseito
(Constitutional
Party) was invited to form a cabinet under the leadership
of Okuma
and Itagaki, a major achievement in the opposition
parties'
competition with the genro. This success was
short-lived:
the Kenseito split into two parties, the Kenseito led by
Itagaki
and the Kensei Honto (Real Constitutional Party) led by
Okuma, and
the cabinet ended after only four months. Yamagata then
returned as
prime minister with the backing of the military and the
bureaucracy. Despite broad support of his views on
limiting
constitutional government, Yamagata formed an alliance
with
Kenseito. Reforms of electoral laws, an expansion of the
House to
369 members, and provisions for secret ballots won Diet
support for
Yamagata's budgets and tax increases. He continued to use
imperial
ordinances, however, to keep the parties from fully
participating
in the bureaucracy and to strengthen the already
independent
position of the military. When Yamagata failed to offer
more
compromises to the Kenseito, the alliance ended in 1900,
beginning
a new phase of political development.
Ito and a protégé, Saionji Kimmochi (1849-1940),
finally
succeeded in forming a progovernment party--the Seiyokai
(Association of Friends of Constitutional Government)--in
September
1900, and a month later Ito became prime minister of the
first
Seiyokai cabinet. The Seiyokai held the majority of seats
in the
House, but Yamagata's conservative allies had the greatest
influence in the House of Peers, forcing Ito to seek
imperial
intervention. Tiring of political infighting, Ito resigned
in 1901.
Thereafter, the prime ministership alternated between
Yamagata's
protégé, Katsura Taro (1847-1913; prime minister 1901-5
and 1908-
11), and Saionji (prime minister 1905-8 and 1911-12). The
alternating of political power was an indication of the
two sides'
ability to cooperate and share power and helped foster the
continued development of party politics.
The Meiji era ended with the death of the emperor in
1912 and
the accession of Crown Prince Yoshihito as emperor of the
Taish
period (Great Righteousness, 1912-26). The end of the
Meiji era was
marked by huge government domestic and overseas
investments and
defense programs, nearly exhausted credit, and a lack of
foreign
exchange to pay debts. The beginning of the Taisho era was
marked
by a political crisis that interrupted the earlier
politics of
compromise. When Saionji tried to cut the military budget,
the army
minister resigned, bringing down the Seiyokai cabinet.
Both
Yamagata and Saionji refused to resume office, and the
genro
were unable to find a solution. Public outrage over the
military
manipulation of the cabinet and the recall of Katsura for
a third
term led to still more demands for an end to genro
politics.
Despite old guard opposition, the conservative forces
formed a
party of their own in 1913, the Rikken Doshikai
(Constitutional
Association of Friends), a party that won a majority in
the House
over the Seiyokai in late 1914.
Data as of January 1994
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