The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan

Ozaki Yukio

Published by Princeton University Press 2001

The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio

The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan

Ozaki Yukio
Translated by: Fujiko Hara
Preface by: Marius B. Jansen

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691258904

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Contents

About this book

Ozaki Yukio, who was returned to his seat in the Japanese Diet twenty-five times, served in that body from its inception in 1890 to 1953. He was several times a cabinet member and, for ten years, mayor of Tokyo. A strong advocate of representative government, he both witnessed and propelled Japan's transformation from a late feudal society to a modern state. His autobiography, available in English for the first time, gives an insider's account of key episodes and leaders over seven decades of Japanese history.

Ozaki's political life spanned the Meiji rise to power and Japan's defeat in World War II, and he played a significant role in each phase of that epic. As a young reporter, he gained preeminence with incisive calls for supremacy in East Asia. A European trip that showed him the devastation of World War I converted him to advocacy of arms reduction and international cooperation. He watched with dismay as Japan encountered isolation and military disaster. Known for the courage of his convictions, he became a marked man, carrying a death poem in his pocket. His sturdy independence survived the American Occupation, as he deplored his associates' readiness to heed occupation dictates.

Ozaki's story reverberates with the immediacy of his personal knowledge of every major Japanese political figure for three-quarters of a century. It is the account of a man who made history as well as writing it. His story is the story of modern Japan. Through it, readers will gain first-hand knowledge of Japanese constitutional history, one with rich relevance for contemporary Japanese politics.

Author / Editor information

Fujiko Hara is a professional interpreter and the granddaughter of Ozaki Yukio. She translated this work with the assistance of Martin Blakeway. Marius B. Jansen, Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at Princeton University, is the author of Sakainoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration, Japan and Its World: Two Centuries of Change (Princeton), and The Making of Modern Japan.

Reviews

"Ozaki Yukio's autobiography is at once a political memoir and a political history. Interwoven with an account of his own political activities is a detailed narrative of political battles, debates, and intrigue inside and outside the Diet. Particularly engaging are Ozaki's vignettes of prewar political leaders. These add to the story a vividness often missing from more analytical works. . . The translation is accurate, close to the original, and readable. This is an important memoir that should be part of any good English language library collection on the history of modern Japan—and it will certainly be used by students."—Peter Duus, Stanford University, editor of The Japanese Wartime Empire, 1931-1945

"Ozaki Yukio's autobiography examines the triumphs and tragedies of modern Japanese political history. Often at the heart of the fray, and exceptionally well informed about his peers, his account of the inner life of the Japanese political world for nearly seventy years is full of important insights, information, and careful analysis. When one reads this book, one realizes that Japan's heroes in the modern age were not always those most honored, or those most facile at making the political system serve their ends, but figures such as Ozaki who steered a steady course toward a more open and democratic society. . . . The work is also useful in showing the reader that the sources of contemporary Japanese political problems are clearly based in the Japanese political and social structure that dates to earlier times."—Fred Notehelfer, University of California, Los Angeles, author of Japan through American Eyes

"While minister of education in 1898, [Ozaki] achieved notoriety for a speech which led to the break-up of the first party cabinet in Jananese history, and his version of this episode adds significantly to what has previously been written about it in English. It is, however, just one of many highlights in Ozaki's uninhibited account of opposition tactics and political rivalries, the readability of which is enhanced by many vivid descriptions of his political friends and enemies."---Richard Sims, History

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	C
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Illustration Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Translator’s Note Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
About the Translators Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Foreword Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
1. The Birth of Constitutional Government in Japan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. In Preparation for a National Parliament Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
3. Around the Time of the Security Ordinance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
4. The Early Days of the Parliament Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
5. From the Matsukata-Ōkuma Government to the Ōkuma-Itagaki Government Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
6. The Birth of the Seiyu¯kai Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
7. The Era of the Russo-Japanese War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	224
8. The Movement to Protect Constitutional Government Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	264
9. The Ōkuma Cabinet Era Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	282
10. The State of Domestic and Foreign Policy after the War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	311
11. The Suffrage Movement and Arms Control Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
12. From Taishō to Shōwa Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
13. Japan in the Storm Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	375
14. The Pacific War and Its Aftermath Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	407
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	439

Language: English
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 416
Illustrations
- Other: 7 b/w illus.

eBook

Published: November 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780691258904