Places, Images, Times & Transformations

Takahashi Korekiyo

(1854-1936). Politician and financial expert. Prime minister (1921-22); president of the Rikken Seiykai political party (1921-25); and intermittently finance minister in six cabinets between 1913 and 1936. His major accomplishments were to bring under control the financial crisis of 1927 and to help the economy recover rapidly from the Showa depression. Born in Edo (now Tokyo). He started as a low-ranking bureaucrat in various ministries, then moved to the Bank of Japan, becoming vice-president in 1892. Later, he became president of the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1906 and of the Bank of Japan in 1911. In 1921 he took over leadership of the government and of the Seiykai, but his term as prime minister lasted less than seven months, mainly because of his inability to control factions within his own party. He later served as finance minister in several administrations. He was assassinated in the February 26th Incident by army critics of his policies limiting armaments expansion. (adapted from Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993)

There is currently no content classified with this term.

Subscribe to RSS - Takahashi Korekiyo