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Statesman. Born in Saga, the son of a samurai of the Saga Clan. He was an active royalist supporting the sonno joi (revere the emperor and expel the barbarians) doctrine. After the Meiji Restoration, after serving as foreign case judge, etc., he became a sangi (councillor) in 1870. In 1873, he became chief secretary of the Finance Ministry and then finance minister. After the Seikanron (conquer Korea debate), he assisted Toshimichi Okubo in financial management. He was expelled from the government in the so-called Political Crisis of 1881. In 1882, he organized the Rikken Kaishinto party (Constitutional Reform Party) and founded the the Tokyo Senmon Gakko (predecessor of the Waseda University). Serving as foreign minister in the first Ito and Kuroda cabinets, he was involved in the revision of treaties. He also served concurrently as foreign, agriculture and commerce ministers in the second Matsukata cabinet. In 1898, he organized the Kenseito party and became prime minister. In 1907 he retired from politics, but returned later and became prime minister again in 1914.
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Okuma, Shigenobu 
