Adachi Kenzō

Adachi Kenzō 安達 謙蔵
Adachi Kenzō in 1929
Born	(1864-12-20)December 20, 1864 Kumamoto, Japan
Died	August 2, 1948(1948-08-02) (aged 83)
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Politician, Cabinet Minister

Adachi Kenzō (安達 謙蔵^?, 20 December 1864 – 2 August 1948) was a statesman, politician and cabinet minister in Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan.

Adachi was the son of a samurai in the service of the Hosokawa clan of Kumamoto Domain. After the Meiji Restoration, he studied at the academy founded by Sasaki Tokifusa in Kumamoto. In 1894, during the First Sino-Japanese War he travelled to Korea, initially as a free-lance war correspondent, but soon established two Japanese-language newspapers, the Chōsen Jihō and the Keijō Shimpō. He was later charged with being one of the central instigators and organizers of the assassination of Korean Empress Myeongseong, along with Miura Gorō. Together with other members of the plot, he was arrested on his return to Japan, but was acquitted by the Japanese courts.

In the 1902 General Election, Adachi was elected to the House of Representatives of Japan from the Kumamoto general constituency as a member of the Rikken Dōshikai, and was re-elected four consecutive times, serving until 25 December 1914, when he became Deputy Foreign Minister under the Ōkuma Shigenobu administration. He was elected again to the House of Representatives in the 1917 General Election, serving for another eight consecutive terms to 30 April 1942. The Rikken Dōshikai became the Kenseikai in 1916, which merged with the Seiyu Hontō in 1926 to form the Rikken Minseitō. Adachi was active in organizing these mergers and changes, and consistently promoted a hard-line policy towards China.