was a journalist, entrepreneur, politician and cabinet minister in the pre-World War II
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
.
Biography
Minoura was from
Usuki,
Bungo Province
was a province of Japan in the area of eastern Kyūshū, corresponding to most of modern Ōita Prefecture, except what is now the cities of Nakatsu and Usa. Bungo bordered on Hyūga to the south, Higo and Chikugo to the west, and Chikuze ...
(present-day
Oita Prefecture
Oita often refers to:
* Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan
*Ōita (city), the capital of the prefecture
Oita or Ōita may also refer to:
Places
* Ōita District, Ōita, a former district in Ōita Prefecture, Japan
*Ōita Stadium, a multi-use stadi ...
. He attended the
Keio Gijuku, (the predecessor to
Keio University
, abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...
, where he was a disciple of
Fukuzawa Yukichi
was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio Gijuku, the newspaper ', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases.
Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ideas about the or ...
. After graduation, he joined the
Yubin Hochi Shimbun in 1875 as a reporter, and rose rapidly ranks to become president of the company in 1890. He was once jailed for an editorial supporting greater public rights.
Joining the
Rikken Kaishintō
The was a political party in the Empire of Japan. It was also known as simply the Kaishintō.
The Kaishintō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu on 16 April 1882, with the assistance of Yano Ryūsuke, Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio. It receive ...
political party, he was elected to the
House of Representatives of Japan
The is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house.
The composition of the House is established by and of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives has 465 members, elected for a fo ...
in the
1890 General Election. While a member of 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 ...
, he was a driving force in attempts to reform the Press Law, and to remove
censorship regulations and press bans, especially concerning political debates and issues. His proposals were continually defeated, until a compromise bill was passed in 1897 allowing for reduced fines and punishments.
[ Minoura was vice-speaker of the House of Representatives from March 1904 to December 1908.
Minoura served in the 2nd ]Ōkuma Shigenobu
Marquess was a Japanese politician who served as the prime minister of Japan in 1898, and from 1914 to 1916.
Born in the Saga Domain, Ōkuma was appointed minister of finance soon after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, aided by his friendship w ...
administration as Minister of Communications in 1915–1916. However, his political career ended in a sensational political corruption case in 1926, when he was arrested along with a number of high-ranking members of government for accepted bribes from real estate companies in Osaka over the relocation of the Matsushima Brothels and incarcerated at Osaka Prison. Minoura had to this point been respected by the Japanese public for having no rumor of scandal attached to his name. After a highly publicized court trial, Minoura was found not guilty on 13 October 1927 and released.
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minoura, Katsundo
1854 births
1927 deaths
People from Usuki, Ōita
Politicians from Ōita Prefecture
Government ministers of Japan
Rikken Kaishintō politicians
19th-century Japanese politicians
Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan)
Japanese journalists