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Yamamoto Gonnohyōe | |
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山本 権兵衛 | |
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| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 2 September 1923 – 7 January 1924 | |
| Monarch | Taishō |
| Regent | Hirohito |
| Preceded by | Katō Tomosaburō Uchida Kōsai (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Kiyoura Keigo |
| In office 20 February 1913 – 16 April 1914 | |
| Monarch | Taishō |
| Preceded by | Katsura Tarō |
| Succeeded by | Ōkuma Shigenobu |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 2 September 1923 – 19 September 1923 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Uchida Kōsai |
| Succeeded by | Ijūin Hikokichi |
| Minister of the Navy | |
| In office 8 November 1898 – 7 January 1906 | |
| Prime Minister | Yamagata Aritomo Itō Hirobumi Katsura Tarō |
| Preceded by | Saigō Jūdō |
| Succeeded by | Saitō Makoto |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Yamamoto Gonbē (1852-11-26)26 November 1852 Kagoshima, Satsuma, Japan |
| Died | 8 December 1933 (aged 81) Takanawa, Tokyo, Japan |
| Cause of death | Benign prostatic hyperplasia |
| Resting place | Aoyama Cemetery |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | Imperial Japanese Naval Academy |
| Awards | Order of the Chrysanthemum(Collar and Grand Cordon) Order of the Golden Kite(1st class) Order of St Michael and St George(Honorary Knight Grand Cross) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Branch/service | Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Years of service | 1874–1914 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Battles/wars | Boshin War First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War |
CountYamamoto Gonbē[a]GCMG, also calledGonnohyōe[b] (山本権兵衛,Yamamoto Gonbee/Gonnohyōe; 26 November 1852 – 8 December 1933), was an admiral in theImperial Japanese Navy and twicePrime Minister of Japan from 1913 to 1914 and again from 1923 to 1924.
Yamamoto was born inKagoshima inSatsuma Province (nowKagoshima Prefecture) as the sixth son of asamurai who served as a secretary andsōjutsu master of theShimazu clan.[2] As a youth, he took part in theAnglo-Satsuma War. He later joined Satsuma's Eighth Rifle Troop in theBoshin War that ended theTokugawa shogunate, fighting at theBattle of Toba–Fushimi and other locations; he was also aboard one of the ships that pursuedEnomoto Takeaki and the remnants of the Tokugawa fleet toHokkaido in 1869. After the success of theMeiji Restoration, Yamamoto attended preparatory schools inTokyo and entered the 2nd class of theImperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1870. At the time of theSatsuma Rebellion, he briefly returned to Kagoshima, but at the urging ofSaigo Takamori, he returned to the Naval Academy before the start of combat.
After graduation in 1874, Yamamoto went on a training cruise toEurope andSouth America aboardImperial German Navy vessels from 1877 to 1878, and as junior officer acquired much sea experience. He wrote a gunnery manual that became the standard for the Imperial Japanese Navy and served asexecutive officer of thecruiserNaniwa on its shakedown voyage fromElswick to Japan (1885 to 1886). After serving as captain of thecorvetteAmagi, he accompaniedNavy MinisterKabayama Sukenori on a trip to theUnited States and Europe that lasted over a year (1887 to 1888).
As commander of the cruiserTakao, he undertook a confidential mission to meetQing GeneralYuan Shikai inHanseong (Seoul),Korea (1890). Afterwards, he assumed command of theTakachiho.
Working under his patron, Navy MinisterSaigō Tsugumichi from 1893, Yamamoto became the real leader of the navy; initiating numerous reforms, attempting to end favoritism toward officers of his own Satsuma province, attempting to end officers from profiteering from military office, and attempting to attain roughly equal status with the Army in theSupreme War Council. He also pushed for an aggressive strategy towards theChinese Empire in theFirst Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). Yamamoto was promoted torear admiral in 1895 and tovice admiral in 1898.
In November 1898, Yamamoto was appointedNavy Minister under the secondYamagata Aritomo administration. By this time, theRussian Empire was already perceived as the greatest threat to Japan, and Yamamoto advised the government that it was possible that Japan would win a conflict against Russia, albeit at the cost of more than half of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He sponsored promising junior officers a "brain trust", includingAkiyama Saneyuki andHirose Takeo, whom he sent asnaval attachés to the United States, United Kingdom and Russia to gather intelligence and to make strategic assessments of capabilities. Domestically, he pushed for increased capacity and modernisation of shipyards and steel mills, and for the increased import of higher quality coal from the United Kingdom to power his warships. Externally, he was a strong supporter of theAnglo-Japanese Alliance. As an indication of the increased independence and prestige of the Navy, Emperor Meiji appeared in naval uniform during a public appearance for the first time. Yamamoto was madebaron (danshaku) under thekazoku peerage system in 1902; and he was promoted to the rank ofadmiral in 1904.
As Minister of the Navy during theRusso-Japanese War, Yamamoto showed strong leadership and was responsible for appointingTōgō Heihachirō ascommander-in-chief of theCombined Fleet. He gave voice to Tōgō's reports when he read aloud his reports from the war to the assembled Diet.[3]
Yamamoto was replaced as Navy Minister bySaito Makoto in January 1906. He was elevated tocount (hakushaku) in 1907.
In February 1913, Yamamoto becamePrime Minister of Japan, succeedingKatsura Taro as leader of theRikken Seiyukai political party. During Yamamoto's first term as the prime minister, he abolished the rule that both theNavy Minister andArmy Minister had to be active duty officers. This rule had given the military a stranglehold over the civilian government since the military could withdraw their minister and refuse to appoint a successor. Failure to fill the post would cause the existing cabinet to collapse. Thus, Yamamoto gained a reputation for being a liberal and a supporter of public claims fordemocracy andconstitutional government. However, his administration was plagued by charges of corruption and he was forced to resign with his entire cabinet in April 1914 to take responsibility for theSiemens-Vickers Naval Armaments scandal, even though it was never proved that he was personally involved.
Under the succeeded Okuma administration, Yamamoto was transferred to naval reserves. DuringWorld War I and the subsequent disarmament treaty negotiations, he remained sidelined.
Yamamoto was recalled to government as Prime Minister again on 2 September 1923 in the emergency "earthquake cabinet" caused by the sudden death of Prime MinisterKatō Tomosaburō immediately following theGreat Kantō earthquake. He showed leadership in the restoration of Tokyo which had been heavily damaged by the earthquake. He also attempted to reform the electoral system to permit universal malesuffrage. However, he and his cabinet were forced to resign again in January 1924, this time over the attempt byNamba Daisuke to assassinatePrince RegentHirohito on 27 December 1923 (theToranomon Incident).
Subsequently, Yamamoto withdrew from political life completely. Suggestions that he be made one of theGenrō were vehemently opposed by his life-long political enemy,Saionji Kinmochi, who also blocked all efforts for him to have a seat on thePrivy Council. In December 1933, nine months after the death of his wife, Yamamoto died of complication due tobenign prostatic hyperplasia at his home inTakanawa, Tokyo at the age of 82. His grave is at theAoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.[4]
Order of the Rising Sun, 6th class[7]Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class[8]
Order of the Golden Kite, 4th class[9]
Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class[10]
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun[11]
Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class[12]
Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers[13]
Order of the Chrysanthemum[14] Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum[15]
- Prussia -Order of the Red Eagle, 1st class[16]
- France -Legion of Honour, Grand officier[17]
- France -Legion of Honour, Grand Croix[18] - Prussia -Order of the Red Eagle, Grand Cross[18]
- UK -Order of St Michael and St George, Knight Grand Cross (GCMG).[18][19]
| Empire of Japan (1868–1947) |
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| Japan (1947–present) |
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