Itō Hirobumi : Japan's first prime minister and father of the Meiji Constitution / Takii Kazuhiro ; translated by Takechi Manabu and edited by Patricia Murray
- Bib ID:
- 6453127
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Takii, Kazuhiro, 1967-, author
- Uniform Title:
- Itō Hirobumi. English
- Related Online Resources:
- Cover image
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- Description:
-
- London ; New York : Routledge, 2014
- ©2014
- xii, 250 pages : illustration, portraits ; 24 cm.
- ISBN:
- 9780415838863 (hardback)
- Invalid ISBN:
- 9781315818979 (ebook)
- Series:
- Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia ; 94.
- Summary:
-
"The brilliant and influential statesman, Itō 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 Itō's thought and vision for Japan's modernisation based on research in primary sources. It outlines Itō'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 Itō'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 Itō 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"--
- Full contents:
-
- Machine generated contents note: Previous scholarship on Ito Hirobumi
- Ito in Shiba's historical fiction
- Reconsideration based on the latest research
- 1.Encounter with Western civilization
- Early years
- Institutions and the West
- The Iwakura Mission and shift to gradualism
- 2.A constitution for Japan: building the foundation
- Moving toward constitutional government: 1873-80
- The Political Crisis of 1881
- Constitutional study tour in Europe
- Education and knowledge in constitutional government
- Enactment of the Constitution and party government: Ito's speeches
- Constitutional government as popular government: Ito's address to royalty and peers
- 3.Ito the constitutional evangelist
- All things change: Ito's worldview
- Nationwide campaign: stumping for the Constitution
- Treaty revision and a new status in the world
- Implanting the idea of popular government
- Educating the people in practical science
- Personal experience
- Contents note continued: 4.Creating a society for knowledge: the Seiyukai
- From oligarch to party politician
- Constitutional government and party-led government
- Forming the Seiyukai
- From "faction" to "society"
- The party as think-tank
- 5.Consolidating the national structure: the Constitutional Reforms of 1907
- Seiyukai setback
- The Imperial Household Research Committee and constitutional reform
- Constitutional reforms of 1907 (1): integrating the emperor into the state
- Constitutional reforms of 1907 (2): responsible government and control over the military
- Ito Hirobumi's idea of the nation
- 6.Ito and China
- Two months in Korea and China
- Lessons of the 1898 coup in China
- Meeting with Zhang Zhidong
- Views on China and plans for Japan
- Hands off political change in China
- 7.Fostering governance in two countries
- Ito's dual role and the resident-generalship
- The showdown with Confucian tradition
- Contents note continued: Governing Korea and military reforms in Japan: extension of constitutional reform
- The breakdown of Korean rule.
- Notes:
-
- "International Research Center for Japanese Studies Kyoto"--Title page.
- "First edition published as Ito Hitobumi : chi no seijika, as part of the Nichibunken monograph series no. 16 in 2010 by Chuo Koron Shinsha"--Title page verso.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2014
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