was a bureaucrat, politician, and cabinet minister in the government of the pre-war

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 ...

, as well as in post-war Japan. He was the younger brother of political theorist Sakuzō Yoshino, a major proponent of Taishō democracy.

Background

Yoshino was born in what is now

Ōsaki, Miyagi Ōsaki City Hall is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 128,763 in 51,567 households, and a population density of 160 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Ōsaki is a member of the ...

to a merchant family. He graduated from

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in 1913 with a degree in German law, and was accepted into the

Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce The was a cabinet-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1881-1925. It was briefly recreated as the during World War II History The original Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was created on April 7, 1881, initially under ...

. A protégé of

Yamamoto Tatsuo was a Japanese politician and Governor of the Bank of Japan from 1898 to 1903. He was also a member of the House of Peers and served as a cabinet minister in the pre-war government of the Empire of Japan. Early life Yamamoto was born in Us ...

, and as one of few members of the ministry with a legal degree, he rose rapidly through the bureaucratic ranks to the post of Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. He was the Japanese resident representative to the

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely se ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1915. In 1924, he was sent to America and Europe to investigate the chemical industry, and the issue of

protective tariff Protective tariffs are tariffs that are enacted with the aim of protecting a domestic industry. They aim to make imported goods cost more than equivalent goods produced domestically, thereby causing sales of domestically produced goods to rise, ...

s as chief of the Industrial Policy Section of the Industrial Affairs Bureau . In 1925, Yoshino assisted in the creation of new laws which established state-supported export cartels to assist small and medium businesses by regulating competition, thus establishing the basis for a nationally directed export policy. When the ministry split into the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and

Ministry of Commerce and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and M ...

, Yoshino stayed with Commerce, and served as Chief of the Documents Section, Director of Public Works, and in 1931 was promoted over several people with higher seniority to become Assistant Secretary of Commerce.Johnson. ''MITI and the Japanese Miracle''. Page 66 He subsequently served as Director of the Patent Office, president of the state-run Tohoku industries, and

Tohoku Electric is an electric utility, servicing 7.6 million individual and corporate customers in six prefectures in Tōhoku region plus Niigata Prefecture. It provides electricity at 100 V, 50 Hz, though some area use 60 Hz. Tohoku Electric Power ...

. During the 1930s, he was closely assisted by his protégé,

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Known for his exploitative rule of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Northeast China in the 1930s, Kishi was nicknamed the "Monster of the Sh� ...

, especially within the semi-independent Temporary Industry Rationality Bureau, which sought increased state influence over industry through implementation of scientific management, standardization of products and production processes, and state subsidies for the production and consumption of domestic products. Yoshino also called for a national system to inspect product quality. Yoshino was selected by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Fumimaro Konoe Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...

to become Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1937. He was also granted a seat in the House of Peers in 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 ...

from 1938. The same year, he became vice-president of Manchurian Industrial Development Company, although his relations with the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

were not good.Iguchi, ''Unfinished Business''. Page 187 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Yoshino served as chairman of the Standing Affairs committee of the

Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association The , abbreviated to ''Yokuseikai'' or IRAPA, was the political wing of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and a joint caucus of both the House of Representatives and the House of Peers that existed between 20 May 1942 to 30 March 1945. In ...

and was war-time governor of Aichi Prefecture. Following the

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States ...

, in 1953 Yoshino successfully ran for a seat from the

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the n ...

constituency in the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

of the

, serving one term until June 1959. In 1955, he was appointed Minister of Transportation under the third Hatoyama administration. From 1956 to 1965, Yoshino was president of Musashino University.

References

*Gordon, Andrew. ''Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan''. University of California Press (1992) *Johnson, Chalmers. ''Miti and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy : 1925-1975''. Stanford University Press (1982) *Mimura, Janis. ''Planning for Empire: Reform Bureaucrats and the Japanese Wartime State'' . Cornell University Press (2011) *Iguchi, Haruo. ''Unfinished Business: Ayukawa Yoshisuke and U.S.-Japan Relations, 1937-1''953. Harvard University Asia Center (2003),

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshino, Shinji 1888 births 1971 deaths People from Ōsaki, Miyagi Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) University of Tokyo alumni Politicians from Miyagi Prefecture Governors of Aichi Prefecture