Prince was a Japanese Imperial court noble and statesman at the time of the Meiji Restoration. He held many high-ranking offices in the Meiji government.
Early life Born in Kyoto, Sanjō was the son of Naidaijin Sanjō Sanetsumu. He held several important posts in Court and became a central figure in the anti-Western, anti-Tokugawa sonnō jōi ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian") movement.
When the coup d'état of 30 September 1863, brought the more moderate Aizu and Satsuma factions into power, he fled to Chōshū. He returned to Kyoto after the resignation of shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu in 1867.
Political career The first administrative offices (Sanshoku) of the Meiji government were established on 3 January 1868: the Sōsai (President), Gijō (Administration) and San'yo (Office of Councilors). These offices were abolished on 11 June 1868, with the establishment of the Dajō-kan (Grand Council of State). In the new Meiji government, Sanjō was head of the Gijo, Minister of the Right (右大臣) (11 June 1868 – 15 August 1871), and Chancellor of the Realm (Dajō-daijin) (15 August 1871 – 22 December 1885).
Sanjō was awarded Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum in 1882. On 7 July 1884, his title was changed to that of koshaku (prince) under the kazoku peerage system. Sanjō served until the abolition of the dajōkan system in 1885. After the Cabinet system was established, he became Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan.
In 1889, when Prime Minister Kuroda Kiyotaka and his cabinet resigned en masse, Emperor Meiji only accepted Kuroda's resignation and formally invited Sanjō to head the government. The Emperor refused to appoint a new prime minister for the next two months, making Sanjō the only Prime Minister of Japan (albeit interim) who also concurrently held the post of Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal.After the Meiji Constitution was adopted in 1890, a new system was established: "In case of death, incapacitation, resignation or removal of the prime minister, a member of the cabinet shall serve as acting prime minister until the next prime minister is formally appointed." Today Sanjō’s government is generally regarded as continuation of Kuroda’s.
In 1890, he assumed a seat in the new House of Peers in the Diet of Japan established by the Meiji Constitution. On his death in 1891, he was accorded a state funeral. His grave is at the temple of Gokoku-ji in Bunkyō, Tokyo.
Honours From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (29 December 1876) Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (11 April 1882) Prince (7 July 1884)
Order of precedence Junior fifth rank (31 January 1850) Fifth rank (4 July 1854) Fourth rank (22 May 1855) Senior fourth rank (29 January 1856) Third rank (6 November 1862; degraded 1863, restored 2 January 1868) First rank (12 June 1868) Senior first rank (18 February 1891)
Ancestry
Notes
References Beasley, William G. (1972). The Meiji Restoration. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ; OCLC 579232 Jansen, Marius B. and Gilbert Rozman, eds. (1986). Japan in Transition: from Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ; OCLC 12311985 Keene, Donald. (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. New York: Columbia University Press. ; OCLC 46731178 Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan. [Translated by Fujiko Hara]. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ; OCLC 45363447
External links
National Diet Library biography and photo Meiji Dignitaries is a portrait of Sanetomi and others from 1877