Zenjirō Horikiri
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was a Japanese official who served as Minister for Home Affairs under Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara from 1945 to 1946. His brother, Zenbei Horikiri was also a politician and prominent member of the
Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political party, 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 Devel ...
political party.


Biography

Horikiri was born in
Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...
. After his graduation from
Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...
, he entered 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 Director of the Censorship Department within the Home Ministry from 1917 to 1918, he ordered that publication of articles in newspapers concerning the Rice Riots of 1918 be banned, as they appear to be inciting violence. From 1925 to 1926, Horikiri was governor of
Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
. The following year, he returned to the Home Ministry as Director of the Reconstruction Bureau, which was in charge of
urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
and the rebuilding of Tokyo in the aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake. In 1929, Horikiri was appointed Mayor of
Tokyo City was a Cities of Japan, municipality in Japan and capital of Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943), Tokyo Prefecture (or ''Tokyo-fu'') which existed from 1 May 1889 until the establishment of Tokyo Metropolis on 1 July 1943. The historical boundari ...
, and at the end of 1930 was Vice Minister of Colonial Affairs. In 1932, in the administration of Prime Minister
Saitō Makoto Viscount (27 October 1858 – 26 February 1936) was a Japanese naval officer and politician. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Saitō Makoto"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 809. Upon distinguishing himself during his command of two cruisers in t ...
, Horikiri served as Director-General of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau, and in 1933 was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary. The same year, he was appointed to a seat in the
upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
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 ...
. Following the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
, Horikiri was appointed Home Minister under the Shidehara administration. During his tenure, he sponsored election reform laws to lower the minimum
voting age A legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to Voting, vote in a democracy, democratic process. For General election, general elections around the world, the right to vote is restricted to adults, and most nations use 18 year ...
to twenty, and to enable were enacted on
women’s suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...
and eligibility for seats on in the Diet. The laws were passed in the Diet in December 1945, despite reservations by some members that this action would lend support to extremist (particularly leftist) elements. As a result of the election law reforms, Koreans and Taiwanese resident in Japan lost their rights to vote in Japanese elections, as Horikiri judged that they had lost their Japanese
nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...
with Japan’s acceptance of the
Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, ...
, and would thenceforth need to be treated as resident foreigners.Watt, ''When Empire Comes Home'', page 95 At the end of his term of office, Horikiri was placed on purged list of those banned from holding government office. Following the end of the occupation, Horikiri served from 1954 to 1969 as the Chairman of the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission, which supervises the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The , known locally as simply the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), is the prefectural police of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Founded in 1874, the TMPD is the largest police force in Japan by number of officers, with a staff of more than 4 ...
.


References

* Kornicki, Peter F. '' Meiji Japan. Routledge'' (1998). *Kono,Masaru. '' Japan’s Postwar Party Politics''. Princeton University Press. (1997) *Hunter, Janet. '' A Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History ''. University of California Press (1994). *


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horikiri, Zenjiro 1884 births 1974 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Japan Mayors of Tokyo Politicians from Fukushima Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Government ministers of Japan Ministers of home affairs of Japan Members of the House of Peers (Japan) Governors of Kanagawa Prefecture