No. 153, February 2007

Selections from NDL Collection
Documents relating to Inoue Kaoru
(Inoue Kaoru Kankei Monjo)

Inoue Kaoru (1835-1915) was a statesman, who became a genro (elder statesman). He was born in Yamaguchi as the son of a goshi (lower-ranked samurai) of the Hagi Clan. Together with comrades such as Takasugi Shinsaku, he played an active part in the sonno joi undo (movement to revere the emperor and expel the Western barbarians). After the Meiji Restoration, he held such important posts as san'yo (senior counselor), taifu (senior vice minister) of Finance, sangi (councillor), industry minister, and foreign minister. In 1876, he was involved in the conclusion of the Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity as vice-ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. Closely linked to business circles, including Mitsui, he was also involved in the railway business. In 1885, he became foreign minister in the first Ito cabinet. He held important positions including agriculture and commerce minister in the Kuroda cabinet, home minister in the second Ito cabinet and finance minister in the third Ito cabinet, and he continued to be highly esteemed as a genro after retiring. 1. Portraite of Inoue Kaoru
From "Kinsei Meishi Shashin" Vol.1, Kinsei Meishi Shashin Hanpukai, 1934.

The Inoue Family devolved to the National Diet Library in 1952 a collection of the documents related to Inoue Kaoru. There are about 4,800 items in the collection, and they are regarded as highly valuable resources by researchers. The Library published a catalog of the collection (Inoue Kaoru Kankei Monjo Mokuroku, 1975), dividing it into two groups, letters and documents. In the catalog, letters are arranged in alphpbetical order of senders and documents are listed by incidents related.

A few representative items listed in the catalog are as follows:

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1) Letters: Letter from Ito Hirobumi, August 4, 1889

The relationship between Inoue and Ito was very close from their youth, and their friendship lasted throughout their lives. They both belonged to the Choshu-batsu (a political faction affiliated with the former Choshu clique). The catalog lists about 240 letters from Ito to Inoue.

As stated above, Inoue served as foreign minister (1885-1887) in the first Ito cabinet. As Japan's first foreign minister, Inoue worked hard for the abolishment of the unequal clauses of the treaties signed by the Tokugawa government, such as extraterritorial rights of foreign residents and the abandonment of the custom of autonomy. For this purpose Inoue promoted the Westernizing policy symbolized by the Rokumeikan (a dance pavilion) to impress foreign diplomats with Western-style hospitality and dance parties and win them over to Japan's side. This later became known as Rokumeikan gaiko (Rokumeikan diplomacy) but it ended up in a failure.

At the time when this letter was written, Inoue was agriculture and commerce minister in the Kuroda Cabinet, in which Okuma Shigenobu was foreign minister. Okuma also was engaged in treaty revision negotiations. Okuma had been a political rival to Ito at that time, and Ito and Inoue were opposed to Okuma's policy on treaty revision. This letter was written during the intense antagonism between Okuma's group and Ito's group including Inoue.

This letter is a response to the letter Inoue sent to Ito on the previous day (August 3), asking Ito's advice on his decision to resign on the ground of illness. Inoue said that he would like to retire and become a mountain hermit. He also showed concern for the illness of Ito's wife. In his reply Ito lamented the difficult situation of Japan's internal politics as well as the treaty revision negotiations that Okuma had been working on. However, Ito advised Inoue not to resign in a huff from his position.

Letter from Ito Hirobumi, August 4, 1889

This part of the letter shows the date the letter was written, August 4, and Ito's signature. Also Ito mentioned that his wife's health had greatly improved.

Letter from Inoue to Ito, August 3,1889

This letter shows the signature of Inoue Kaoru on August 3, 1889.

Here Inoue wrote: My resolution to say nothing and do nothing and to become a mountain hermit has become even stronger. Inoue was known to have often said, as in this letter, that he would like to withdraw from the world and retire to private life. 

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2) Documents: Draft of report on finance, August 1880

Having had studied in England at the end of Tokugawa period, Inoue came to believe that fostering commerce and industries based on individual freedom should be the foundation of developing a modern country. This idea was presented well in this document.

As the government finances fell into a difficult situation due to inflation after the Satsuma Rebellion (Seinan Senso, 1877) and a trade and budget deficit, Iwakura Tomomi, then minister of the right, planned that 25% of the land tax should be paid in rice so that the revenue from tax would increase about 4 million yen. Iwakura attributed the budget deficit to money payment of land tax and claimed that the farmers had gained an unfair profit from the rising price of rice and fallen into luxurious habits of eating rice instead of coarse cereal, while the warrior class had become impoverished.

In this draft Inoue openly criticized Iwakura's plan, saying that it would destroy the nation's economy for the government's convenience. He then refuted Iwakura's claim that farmers eating rice had caused the rise of rice prices, calling it a false accusation. He reasoned that the price of rice had risen as a natural result of the market function of price adjustment, which as a result had given an incentive for farmers to produce more rice and accelerate their production. Inoue argued that the deficit of trade and budget was a result of the government's inability to implement a proper finance policy. He proposed a counter plan: the government should increase its revenue by controlling costs, increasing indirect tax, and promoting trade, etc.

The collection listed in "Inoue Kaoru Kankei Monjo Mokuroku," including the above two documents, has been microfilmed. Users can read documents both in microfilm and printed copies in the Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room.

Ref:

Sasaki, Takashi. Ito Hirobumi no joho senryaku. Tokyo, Chuo Koron Shinsha, 1999. 322p.
(NDL call no.: GB415-G32)

Osawa, Hiroaki. "Meiji-ki Inoue Kaoru no seiji koso." From Meiji kokka no seisaku to shiso / edited by Takaaki Inuzuka. Tokyo, Yoshikawakobunkan, 2005. p. 58-84.
(NDL call no.: GB415-H48)

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