Ōkubo Toshimichi
| Ōkubo Toshimichi | |
|---|---|
Ōkubo Toshimichi
|
|
| Born |
September 26, 1830 Kagoshima, Japan |
| Died | May 14, 1878 (aged 47) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Politician |
Ōkubo Toshimichi (大久保 利通?, September 26, 1830 – May 14, 1878) was a Japanese , a samurai of Satsuma, and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. He is regarded as one of the main founders of modern Japan.
Ōkubo was born in Kagoshima, Satsuma Province, (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture) to Ōkubo Juemon a low-ranking retainer of Satsuma daimyō Shimazu Nariakira. The eldest of five children, he studied at the same local school with Saigō Takamori, who was three years older. In 1846, he was given the position of aide to the domain's archivist.
Shimazu Nariakira recognized Ōkubo's talents and appointed him to the position of tax administrator in 1858. When Nariakira died, Ōkubo joined the plot to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. Unlike most Satsuma leaders, he favored the position of tōbaku (倒幕, overthrowing the Shogunate), as opposed to kōbu gattai (公武合体, marital unity of the Imperial and Tokugawa families) and hanbaku (opposition to the Shogunate) over the Sonnō jōi movement.
The Anglo-Satsuma War of 1863, along with the Richardson Affair and the September 1863 coup d'état in Kyoto convinced Ōkubo that the tobaku movement was doomed. In 1866, he met with Saigō Takamori and Chōshū Domain's Kido Takayoshi to form the secret Satchō Alliance to overthrow the Tokugawa.
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