Political Rivalries

Japan Table of Contents

After the bitter political rivalries between the inception of the Diet in 1890 and 1894, when
the nation was unified for the war effort against China, there followed five years of unity,
unusual cooperation, and coalition cabinets. From 1900 to 1912, the Diet and the cabinet
cooperated even more directly, with political parties playing larger roles. Throughout the
entire period, the old Meiji oligarchy retained ultimate control but steadily yielded power
to the opposition parties. The two major figures of the period were Yamagata Aritomo,
whose long tenure (1868-1922) as a military and civil leader, including two terms as prime
minister, was characterized by his intimidation of rivals and resistance to democratic
procedures, and It , who was a compromiser and, although overruled by the genro, wanted
to establish a government party to control the House during his first term. When Ito
returned as prime minister in 1898, he again pushed for a government party, but when
Yamagata and others refused, Ito resigned. With no willing successor among the genro,
the Kenseito (Constitutional Party) was invited to form a cabinet under the leadership of
Okuma and Itagaki, a major achievement in the opposition parties' competition with the
genro. This success was short-lived: the Kenseito split into two parties, the Kenseito led by
Itagaki and the Kensei Honto (Real Constitutional Party) led by Okuma, and the cabinet
ended after only four months. Yamagata then returned as prime minister with the backing
of the military and the bureaucracy. Despite broad support of his views on limiting
constitutional government, Yamagata formed an alliance with Kenseito. Reforms of
electoral laws, an expansion of the House to 369 members, and provisions for secret
ballots won Diet support for Yamagata's budgets and tax increases. He continued to use
imperial ordinances, however, to keep the parties from fully participating in the
bureaucracy and to strengthen the already independent position of the military. When
Yamagata failed to offer more compromises to the Kenseito, the alliance ended in 1900,
beginning a new phase of political development.

Ito and a protégé, Saionji Kimmochi (1849-1940), finally succeeded in forming a

progovernment party--the Seiyokai (Association of Friends of Constitutional
Government)--in September 1900, and a month later Ito became prime minister of the first
Seiyokai cabinet. The Seiyokai held the majority of seats in the House, but Yamagata's
conservative allies had the greatest influence in the House of Peers, forcing Ito to seek
imperial intervention. Tiring of political infighting, Ito resigned in 1901. Thereafter, the
prime ministership alternated between Yamagata's protégé, Katsura Taro (1847-1913;
prime minister 1901-5 and 1908- 11), and Saionji (prime minister 1905-8 and 1911-12).
The alternating of political power was an indication of the two sides' ability to cooperate
and share power and helped foster the continued development of party politics.

The Meiji era ended with the death of the emperor in 1912 and the accession of Crown
Prince Yoshihito as emperor of the Taish period (Great Righteousness, 1912-26). The end
of the Meiji era was marked by huge government domestic and overseas investments and
defense programs, nearly exhausted credit, and a lack of foreign exchange to pay debts.
The beginning of the Taisho era was marked by a political crisis that interrupted the earlier
politics of compromise. When Saionji tried to cut the military budget, the army minister
resigned, bringing down the Seiyokai cabinet. Both Yamagata and Saionji refused to
resume office, and the genro were unable to find a solution. Public outrage over the
military manipulation of the cabinet and the recall of Katsura for a third term led to still
more demands for an end to genro politics. Despite old guard opposition, the conservative
forces formed a party of their own in 1913, the Rikken Doshikai (Constitutional
Association of Friends), a party that won a majority in the House over the Seiyokai in late
1914.