Okubo Toshimichi (26 September 1830 – 14 May 1878) was a Japanese statesman who dominated national politics during the early Meiji Restoration. He exercised near-dictatorial powers during Emperor Meiji's early reign, and he oversaw the suppression of the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877 before being assassinated in 1878.
Biography[]
Okubo Toshimichi was born in Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain, Japan on 26 September 1830, and he was schoolmates with the slightly older Saigo Takamori before becoming aide to the Satsuma Domain's archivist in 1846. He became the domain's tax administrator in 1858 and, during the Boshin War, he supported the violent overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Toshimichi became a high-ranking bureaucrat of the Meiji Restoration era, rising to the rank of Finance Minister in 1871 and implementing a land tax reform, a prohibition of samurai carrying swords in public, and industrial development efforts, including the construction of a large railroad across Japan.
Okubo in military uniform
Okubo used the Home Affairs office to greatly expand his powers within the government and achieve near-dictatorial status, and his power grab alienated traditional samurai such as Saigo Takamori, who feared that Emperor Meiji was becoming a puppet of the pro-Western elite led by Okubo. In 1877, Takamori led the Satsuma Rebellion against the Imperial government, and Okubo brought in American military advisors such as Colonel Howard Bagley to help train the Imperial Japanese Army for war.
This army was ready by the autumn of 1877, and it crushed Takamori at the Battle of Shiroyama, with Okubo personally supervising the victory. Okubo was considered a traitor by many Satsuma samurai for suppressing a rebellion in his home province, and he was stabbed dead by Shimada Ichiro and six Kaga Domain samurai on his way to the imperial palace on 14 May 1878.