was a politician and bureaucrat in the early

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, who subsequently was a politician and cabinet minister in the immediate post-war era.

Biography

Ōmura was born in

Tsuyama, Okayama is a city in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. In February 2023, the city had an estimated population of 97,507 in 45,653 households and a population density of 190 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Tsuyama is located in nort ...

. After his graduation from the Law School of Kyoto Imperial University, he entered the

Home Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

. He served as Governor of

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

from 15 January 1935 to 13 March 1936, and again for a second term from 11 January 1938 to 23 December 1938. He was then appointed Governor of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

from 23 December 1938 to 4 September 1939. Later in 1939, he was Vice Minister for Education under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Abe Nobuyuki. In 1943, he was made chairman of the Japan Student Services Organization. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during the American

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

, Ōmura served as

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

in the first Yoshida administration from 22 May 1946 to 24 May 1947. He was also appointed to a seat in the House of Peers in the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. From 10 December 1954 to 19 March 1955, Ōmura served as

Director-General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

for the Japan Defense Agency under the first Hatoyama administration. Ōmura subsequently was elected a seat in the

Lower House A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the Diet from his native Okayama, and served for six terms from 21 November 1960 to 23 October 1963. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...

on 29 April 1965.

References

* Woodard, William Parsons. '' The Allied Occupation of Japan: 1945-1952 and Japanese Religions''. Brill (1972). AISI v9IUAAAAIAAJ *Kono,Masaru. '' Japan’s Postwar Party Politics''. Princeton University Press. (1997) *Hunter, Janet. '' A Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History ''. University of California Press (1994). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omura, Seiichi 1892 births 1968 deaths Politicians from Okayama Prefecture Kyoto University alumni Kagoshima University alumni Government ministers of Japan Ministers of home affairs of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Governors of Nagano Governors of Kanagawa Prefecture Ministers of defense of Japan