Benzō Fujii (1840–1880 or 1842–1881) was a Japanese '' bakumatsu''-era

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

in the Chōshū Domain and an early

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

politician who served as lieutenant governor of in 1873–1875 and governor of Hiroshima Prefecture in 1875–1880.

Biography

Early life

Benzō Fujii was born in present-day

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

in 1840''New Compilation of Successive Prefectural Governors in Japan'', p. 858 or around 1842 into a

household serving the Chōshū Domain. Funded by the domain, he went to Europe to study in 1871.Tomita, p. 591

Career

He then entered service for the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

. He was made of Tsuruga Prefecture (now part of Fukui Prefecture) on 8 May 1872, and was promoted to on 19 January 1873.Ōtsuka, p. 157 On 10 November 1872, he was conferred the rank of . In the same month, he proposed to the Ministry of Finance that Tsuruga Prefecture be merged with neighboring , due to the importance of Tsuruga Port. The proposal was accepted, and Asuwa Prefecture was merged into Tsuruga Prefecture in January 1873.''Great Encyclopedia of Fukui Prefecture'', p. 879 On 13 February 1873, his rank was elevated to . He was relocated to Hiroshima Prefecture on 25 January 1875 and assigned the role of lieutenant governor, and, between 5 June 1875 and 24 January 1876, also as Fifth Rank

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. He was soon promoted to governor of Hiroshima Prefecture on 23 February, a role he held until 1880. One month later (23 March), his rank was further elevated to . During his tenure as governor, he summoned the prefectural assembly for the first time and strived to better organize local finance. He also actively went on inspection tours across the prefecture.

Illness and death

He was prone to falling ill since his days in Tsuruga Prefecture (1872–1875). He left office on 6 April 1880 due to an illness, and died in September 1880 or 1881. A funeral service was held for him on 20 September of 1880 or 1881.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{s-end Governors of Hiroshima 1840 births 1880 deaths Japanese Home Ministry government officials