was a politician and cabinet minister in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent for ...

, serving a member of the Lower House of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

eight times, and four as a cabinet minister. He was noted in his early political career as a champion of universal suffrage, social welfare, labor unions, women's rights and

Pan-Asianism Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (''also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism'') is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian peoples. Various theories and movements of Pan-Asia ...

. pages 161–184

Biography

Nagai was born in

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefectu ...

, where his father had been a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

in the service of the

Maeda clan was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan of Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Suga ...

. Nagai studied at a middle school run by

Doshisha University , mottoeng = Truth shall make you free , tagline = , established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920 , vision = , type = Private , affiliation = , calendar = , endowment = €1 ...

and the

Kansei Gakuen was a after '' Tenmei'' and before '' Kyōwa''. This period spanned the years from January 1789 through February 1801. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1789 : The new era name of '' Kansei'' (meaning "Tolerant Government" or "Broad-m ...

and converted to

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there ...

in 1901. He was a devout Christian, and read the Bible every day. He studied at the School of Politics and Economics at

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

, where he was highly influenced by

Abe Isoo was a Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist. He largely contributed to development of baseball in Japan, and was called "Father of Japanese baseball." He created a baseball club of Waseda University. Early life and educa ...

and the concept of "Christian-Socialism" and with Abe's assistance he secured a scholarship to study at

Manchester College Manchester College might refer to: England * Manchester College, a former name of Harris Manchester College, Oxford *Manchester Metropolitan University, formerly Manchester Polytechnic, formed in 1977 by a merger between Manchester College of Art ...

within

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

for further studies. He returned to graduate from Waseda with a degree in Colonial Studies, and with the assistance of

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese statesman and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy. He served as Prime Minister of the Empire of Japan in 1898 and from 1914 to 1916. Ōkuma was also an early advocate of Western science and culture in Japan, and ...

obtained a post there as a teacher. He also edited ''Shin Nippon'', a monthly magazine that was a mouthpiece for Okuma's political views. In 1912, Nagai wrote optimistically about the possibility of large-scale Japanese settlement on under-developed agricultural lands in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

. Nagai ran for a seat in the Lower House of the Diet during the 1917 General Election from the Kanazawa district, but was defeated by the ''

Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the ''Seiyūkai''. Founded on September 15, 1900, by Itō Hirobumi,David S. Spencer, "Some Thoughts on the Political Development of the Japan ...

'' candidate Nakahashi Tokugōrō by only 203 votes. For the 1920 General Election, Nakahashi changed his electoral district to Osaka, and Nagai was elected. He retained his seat over the next seven elections, eventually rising to the position of Secretary-General of the ''

Rikken Minseitō was one of the main political parties in pre-war Empire of Japan. It was commonly known as the ''Minseitō''. History The ''Minseitō'' was founded on 1 June 1927, by a merger of the '' Kenseikai'' and the '' Seiyu Hontō'' political parties. ...

'' political party. Nagai was known for his strong oratory, combining ponderous speech with colorful or flamboyant phrases. (He was once censured by the Diet for making a congratulatory speech on the inauguration of Prime Minister

Hara Takashi was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1918 to 1921. Hara held several minor ambassadorial roles before rising through the ranks of the Rikken Seiyūkai and being elected to the House of Representatives. Ha ...

by comparing Hara’s victory to that of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

). page 280 In May 1932, Nagai was picked to be Minister of Colonial Affairs under the Saitō administration, which he held until July 1934. In June 1937, he was selected to be Minister of Communications under the Konoe administration, until January 1939 and returned to the same post from August 1939 to January 1940 under the Abe administration. Also under the Abe administration, he served as Railroad Minister concurrently with his term as Minister of Communications. During his later career, Nagai became increasingly critical of what he perceived to be the racist and imperialistic designs of United States and United Kingdom on Asia, writing essays and issuing speeches on the "White Peril" and on the mission of Japan to protect China from the western powers and to liberate Asia from its European masters. A leading member of the pro-military clique within the ''Rikken Minseitō'', Nagai was a member of the

League of Diet Members Carry Through the Holy War The was a political party coalition in the lower house of the Diet of Japan formed on March 25, 1940, with the backing of the Imperial Japanese Army as a reaction against a speech made by Saitō Takao, of the ''Rikken Minseitō'' critical of th ...

and a key supporter of Konoe’s plan to create a single-party state under the ''

Taisei Yokusankai The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling organization during much of World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his ("New Order") movement. It evolved i ...

.'' Under the war-time regime, he was appointed a political bureau chief for Greater East Asia Development Board, and also founded the "Greater Japan Scholarship Foundation", the predecessor to the modern Japan Student Services Organization. In a speech in 1943, he promoted the concept of '' hakkō ichiu'' as meaning the "universal brotherhood" of mankind, rather than imperial domination of the world by Japan. Nagai died in 1944, shortly after the Tokyo Air Raid. Michio Nagai, Minister of Education in the Miki administration was Nagai’s eldest son.

References

* * 161–184

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Ryutaro 1881 births 1944 deaths Politicians from Ishikawa Prefecture Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Government ministers of Japan Waseda University alumni Rikken Minseitō politicians Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians Japanese Protestants Converts to Protestantism Pan-Asianists People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa