Ōura Kanetake
| Ōura Kanetake 大浦兼武 |
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|---|---|
Ōura in 1898
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| Born |
June 15, 1850 Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain, Japan |
| Died | September 30, 1918 (aged 68) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | politician, cabinet minister |
| Known for | "Ōura scandal" |
Ōura Kanetake (大浦 兼武?, June 15, 1850 – September 30, 1918) was a politician and bureaucrat in late Meiji and early Taishō period Empire of Japan. In 1907, he was raised to the rank and title of danshaku (baron) under the kazoku peerage system.
The Ōura family was hereditary retainers to a branch of the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Domain. As a Satsuma samurai, Ōura Kanetaka participated in the Boshin War and the suppression of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei during the Meiji Restoration. Under the new Meiji government, he joined the fledgling Japanese police force, working his way up through the ranks until he became Assistant Police Inspector of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. In this capacity, he was field commander of the police forces sent to assist the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army in suppressing his fellow Satsuma countrymen in the Satsuma Rebellion.
After serving as appointed governor of Shimane Prefecture (1893–1895), Yamaguchi Prefecture (1895–1896), Kumamoto Prefecture (1896–1898) and Miyazaki Prefecture (1898), Ōura was appointed Superintendent General of the Police, and was given a seat in the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan. One of his proposals while in charge of the police was to relocate impoverished residents of central Osaka to a new planned town in the outskirts, on the theory that poverty was the cause of disease and crime. The plan failed due to strong local opposition. In 1903, under the 1st Katsura administration, Ōura became Minister of Communications. He then served as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce under the 2nd Katsura cabinet and was also chairman of the Japanese committee organizing the Japan–British Exhibition. He subsequently served as Home Minister under the 3rd Katsura cabinet and as both Minister of Agriculture and Trade and Home Minister under the 2nd Ōkuma administration.
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