Baron was a Japanese politician and bureaucrat in the Meiji period. In 1907, he was raised to the rank and title of danshaku (baron) under the kazoku peerage system. "Nobility, Peerage and Ranks in Ancient and Meiji-Japan", p. 24.
Early life and education Shirane was born in Hagi as the younger son of a samurai in the service of Chōshū Domain. He was educated at the domain’s Meirinkan academy. After the Meiji restoration, in 1868 he travelled to Tokyo and entered the Keio Gijuku, the predecessor to Keio University. On graduation, he accepted a bureaucratic position in the Ministry of Justice, but changed to the Home Ministry shortly thereafter.
Political career Shirane was appointed Governor of Ehime Prefecture in 1888, and Governor of Aichi Prefecture in 1889. After serving as Vice Minister of Home Affairs under Saigō Tsugumichi during the First Yamagata Cabinet. He continued in his post under Shinagawa Yajirō in the First Matsukata Cabinet (1891–1892). He assisted Shinagawa in using his authority as Home Minister to take police action to suppress opposition political party activities during the tumultuous Japanese 1892 election by accusing candidates of sedition, and intimidating candidates and voters.Schencking. Making Waves. Page 61–62 Shinagawa came under much public criticism over the resulting riots and other public disturbances around Japan was forced to resign from his post.Keane, Emperor of Japan, Meiji and His World. pages 460–463 Shirane was not initially forced to resign as well despite his activities under Shingawa, and his constant attempts to undermine Shinagawa’s successor as Home Minister, Soejima Taneomi.Ozaki. The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio. Page 134
From 9 October 1895 to 26 September 1896, Shirane was appointed Minister of Communications under the Second Itō Cabinet. On 7 February 1897 he was elevated to the kazoku peerage with the title of baron (danshaku), and in July he elected to the House of Peers as a baronial member, a position he held to his death in June 1898 of gastric cancer.
References
Keene, Donald. (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. New York: Columbia University Press. ; OCLC 46731178 Large, Stephen S. Shōwa Japan: Political, Economic and Social History, 1926–1989. Taylor & Francis, 1998. Schencking J. Charles. Making Waves: Politics, Propaganda, And The Emergence Of The Imperial Japanese Navy, 1868–1922. Stanford University Press (2005).
Ozaki, Yukio. (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan (translated by Fujiko Hara). Princeton: Princeton University Press.