Utsumi Tadakatsu

Utsumi Tadakatsu
Born	September 12, 1843 Chōshū Domain, Japan
Died	January 20, 1905 (aged 61)
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Cabinet Minister

Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu (内海忠勝, September 12, 1843 – January 20, 1905) was a bureaucrat, statesman and cabinet minister, active in Meiji period Empire of Japan.

Biography

Utsumi was born to a samurai family in Chōshū Domain, in what is now part of the city of Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture). As a youth, he participated in the Kinmon Incident in Kyoto, where pro-sonnō Jōi Chōshū forces sought to seize control of the Emperor to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate.

After the Meiji Restoration, he went to Tokyo and entered into service of the new Meiji government, and was selected as a member of the 1871 Iwakura Mission, visiting the United States, Great Britain and other European countries. After his return to Japan, he was appointed governor of Nagasaki Prefecture (1877–1883), Mie Prefecture (1884–1885), Hyōgo Prefecture (1885–1889), Nagano Prefecture (1889–1891), Kanagawa Prefecture (1891–1893), Osaka Prefecture (1895–1897), and Kyoto Prefecture (1897–1900). He then served as chairman of the Board of Audit from 1900–1901.

While Utsumi was Governor of Nagasaki, he hosted former United States President Ulysses S. Grant on his visit to Japan.

Utsumi was ennobled with the kazoku peerage title danshaku (baron) in 1887. He also served as a member of the House of Peers from its inception in 1890.

Utsumi was selected to become Home Minister in the cabinet of the 1st administration of Prime Minister Katsura Tarō in 1901.

References

• Keene, Donald. Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press (2005). ISBN 0-231-12341-8
• Fredrick, Louis. Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press (2005). ISBN 0674017536
• Sims, Richard. Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23915-7