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Takahashi Korekiyo
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons13

Takahashi Korekiyo

Prime Minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922

Viscount Takahashi Korekiyo (高橋 是清; 27 July 1854 – 26 February 1936) was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922 and Minister of Finance when he was assassinated. He was also a member of the House of Peers and head of the Bank of Japan.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Takahashi Korekiyo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 27, 1854, died Feb 26, 1936.1

About

Takahashi made many contributions to Japan's development during the early 20th century, including introducing its first patent system and securing foreign financing for the Russo-Japanese War. Following the onset of the Great Depression, he introduced controversial financial policies which included abandoning the gold standard, lowering interest rates, and using the Bank of Japan to finance deficit spending by the central government. His decision to cut government spending in 1935 led to unrest within the Japanese military, who assassinated him in February 1936. Takahashi's policies are credited for pulling Japan out of the Depression, but led to soaring inflation following his assassination, as Takahashi's successors became highly reluctant to cut off funding to the government.

From Wikipedia’s article on Takahashi Korekiyo, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedHepburn School3

Takahashi was born in Edo (modern-day Tokyo), while Japan was still under the Tokugawa shogunate. He was the illegitimate son of a court painter in residence at Edo Castle, and adopted as the son of Takahashi Kakuji, a low-ranking samurai in the service of the Date daimyō of Sendai Domain. He studied the English language and American culture in a private school run by the missionary James Hepburn (the forerunner of Meiji Gakuin University). On 25 July 1867, he set sail from Japan to Oakland, California, in the United States, and found employment as a menial laborer. Another version of the story has it that he went to the United States to study, but was sold as a slave by his landlord and only with some difficulty was he able to return to Japan.

From Wikipedia’s article on Takahashi Korekiyo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: economist, accountant, politician.6

  • 1932Acting Prime Minister of Japan4
  • 1924 to 1928Member of the House of Representatives of Japan4
  • 1921 to 1922Prime Minister of Japan4
  • 1911 to 1913Governor of the Bank of Japan4
  • 1911 to 1913Chair, Bank of Japan5
  • 1905 to 1924Member of the House of Peers4

After his return to Japan in 1868, Takahashi taught English conversation. He later became the first master of the Kyōryū Gakkō high school in Tokyo (currently Kaisei Academy), and at the same time worked as a low-ranking bureaucrat in the Ministry of Education, and then in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. He was appointed as the first chief of the Bureau of Patents, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and helped organized the patent system in Japan. At one point, he resigned his government positions and went to Peru to start a silver mining enterprise, but failed.

Takahashi became an employee of the Bank of Japan in 1892, and his talents were soon recognized, as he rose to become vice-president in 1898.

During and after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Takahashi raised foreign loans that were critical to Japan's war effort. He met personally with American financier Jacob Schiff, who floated half of Japan's loans in the U.S. He also raised loans from the Rothschild family in Britain.

For this success, he was appointed to the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan in 1905.

Takahashi was named president of the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1906. He was made a baron (danshaku) under the kazoku peerage system in 1907.

Takahashi was Governor of the Bank of Japan from 1 June 1911, through 20 February 1913.

From Wikipedia’s article on Takahashi Korekiyo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJul 27, 1854, Edo7
  • DiedFeb 26, 1936, Akasaka-ku8
  • CitizenshipJapan9
  • SpouseShinako Takahashi10

Politics

In 1913, Takahashi was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyōe and then joined the Rikken Seiyūkai political party. He was re-appointed by Prime Minister Hara Takashi in 1918. In 1920, Takahashi's title was elevated to viscount (shishaku).

From Wikipedia’s article on Takahashi Korekiyo (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 1936Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum11
  • 1927Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, 1st class11
  • 1920Order of the Rising Sun, 1st class11
  • 1906Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st Class11
  • 1902Order of the Sacred Treasure, 5th Class11
  • 1889Order of the Sacred Treasure, 6th class11

Sources

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