Yamagata Aritomo

Prince Yamagata Aritomo (Japanese: 山縣 有朋; 14 June 1838 – 1 February 1922) was a Japanese statesman and general who twice served as prime minister of Japan, in 1889–1891 and 1898–1900. He was a leading member of the genrō, a group of senior courtiers and statesmen who dominated the politics of Japan during the Meiji era. As the Imperial Japanese Army's inaugural Chief of Staff, he was the chief architect of its nationalist and reactionary ideology, which has led some historians to consider him the "father" of Japanese militarism.

Born to a low-ranking samurai family in the Chōshū Domain, Yamagata became a leader in the loyalist movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. As a commander in the Boshin War, he helped lead the military forces of the Satsuma–Chōshū Alliance to victory in the Meiji Restoration. Following the Restoration, he traveled to Europe to study Western military systems and returned to become the central figure in the creation of the modern Imperial Japanese Army, implementing a nationwide conscription system. He led the new conscript army to victory over the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, which validated his military reforms and destroyed the last vestiges of the samurai class, including the right to bear swords. He further secured the army's independence from civilian control by creating an autonomous Imperial Army General Staff which reported directly to the Emperor of Japan.

Entering civilian government, Yamagata served as Home Minister, where he established an efficient, centralized police and local government system. As Prime Minister from 1889 to 1891, he oversaw the opening of the first Imperial Diet under the new Meiji Constitution. Thereafter, he engaged in a protracted political contest with Itō Hirobumi over the nature of constitutional government. Whereas Itō grew to favor a system of compromise with the political parties, Yamagata remained a staunch advocate of a "transcendental" government where the cabinet would be composed of non-partisan bureaucrats accountable only to the emperor. After the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, he served a second term as Prime Minister from 1898 to 1900, during which he passed laws to prevent political party members from holding key bureaucratic posts.

From the outset of the 1900s, Yamagata vied against Itō for supremacy among the Meiji oligarchy. Upon Ito's assassination on 26 October 1909, he consolidated power to become the dominant figure in the Emperor's court. However, a political scandal that involved his meddling in Crown Prince Hirohito's engagement led to him losing power shortly before his death in February 1922.