was a Japanese samurai of the Satsuma Domain during the Late Tokugawa shogunate. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

he served in 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 ...

as a bureaucrat and

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. He is also commonly known as Yahei or Yahée (弥兵衞 ''Yahee''). His second daughter Mineko was married to Ōkubo Toshimichi's second son Makino Nobuaki. He had two sons, his first son Yatarō Mishima was an eighth-generation custodian of the Bank of Japan, while his second son Yahiko Mishima was a track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. His grandson Michiharu Mishima served as the fourth Chief Scout of the Scout Association of Japan.

Ordinance of Yamagata

In 1874, Mishima became the Ordinance of Sakata Prefecture. The focus of this new post soon turned to countermeasures aimed at an agrarian-sector demonstration known as the Wappa Rebellion. This was a peasant protest opposed to a failure on the part of the ordinance and government officials, who had come from being lords and vassals during the feudal era, to uphold a central edict and thereby imposing labour and taxes identical to those of the previous period. Mishima thus embarked on a full-scale reshuffling of all clerks and officials whilst simultaneously dealing with pressure from the agrarian sector. That following year the protests had been settled through the courts with the money returned to the farmers. In August 1875, Sakata Prefecture became Uruoka Prefecture; the following year it became

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

through the merging of Okitama (also Oitama) and Yamagata prefectures. Accordingly, Mishima became Ordinance of both Uruoka and Yamagata prefectures. Mishima's central policy for Yamagata was the maintenance of roads and bridges and the building of public facilities. During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the Yamagata region formed a strong bond with

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, even more so than with Edo, due to shipping routes via the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

and Mogami River. However, when land-based transportation was emphasised as an objective of the

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 ...

government, traffic control on land routes were progressed so as to form ties with

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Firstly, allowance was made for the Kuriko Highway between Yonezawa and Fukushima, which was completed in 1880. Then, in 1882 the Sekiyama Highway between Yamagata and

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

was completed. Both these routes were constructed to allow for vehicles (or, in those days, horse-carriages).

Pressures faced in the public eye

In 1884, while he was serving as Governor of Tochigi, members of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

plotted for Mishima's assassination in what became known as the Mount Kaban Incident. Even despite this there is still speculation as to whether any pressure from Mishima somehow proved to be an obstacle to any Freedom and People's Rights Movements. On December 25, 1887, Mishima as Superintendent General brought to execution the Regulations for the Preservation of Law and Order declared publicly by imperial edict, which aimed to remove so-called "dangerous characters" from the imperial circles and opposed Freedom and People's Rights Movements such as the (三大事件建白運動 Sandai Jiken Kempaku Undō) and the United Front Movement. He was also the Superintendent General of the Metropolitan Police who brought to execution the Public Order & Police Law of 1900, the predecessor to the Peace Preservation Law of 1925. It is speculated that with Chancellor Itō Hirobumi's opposition to the Regulations for the Preservation of Law and Order and Home Minister Yamagata Aritomo's passive nature at this time, it was Mishima who actively promoted the Regulations for the Preservation of Law and Order. Resultant targets were figures such as Ozaki Yukio, Kataoka Kenkichi, Nakae Chōmin and Hoshi Tōru.

Personal achievements

Mishima also displayed his enthusiasm for district developments outside the public office through the Chōkōsha firm in Nasunogahara, Tochigi (known today as Mishima Farms). He recruited his son Yatarō Mishima as managing director and fourteen of his closest subordinates to join the firm as shareholders, ensuring that land cultivation in the area would not succumb to monopolization.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishima, Michitsune samurai Japanese politicians 1835 births 1888 deaths Meiji Restoration People from Satsuma Domain People of the Meiji era Shimazu retainers