The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Okuma, Shigenobu

OKUMA, ŏk′oo-mä, Shigenobu, Japanese statesman: b. at Saga, in the province of Hizen, 1837. Early in life he became an advocate of advanced reforms, the abolition of the feudal system, the restoration of the emperor to power and a new system of education; and his persistent and courageous advocacy of these reforms was influential in bringing about the revolution of 1867–68. After the reorganization of the Japanese government he was appointed to a position in the Foreign Office, and in 1872 was made Minister of Finance, in which position he brought the national finances into order and established a national currency. In 1881 he withdrew from office and organized the Progressive party, which urged that a constitutional government be immediately organized, and that the ministry be subordinated to the Parliament, of which he was the recognized leader during his political career. After the Japanese parliament was established, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, but his liberal attitude toward the revision of the treaties with foreign countries aroused so much popular opposition that he retired from office. In 1896 he was for a short time in the cabinet, and in 1898 organized a cabinet of which he was Premier; but he resigned within a few months and retired from public life. After his withdrawal from office in 1881, he founded the Semmon-Galko, a school for the study of law, literature and political economy. In 1907 he resigned leadership of the Progressive party. He advocates higher education of women.