Katō Hiroyuki

Katō Hiroyuki
Count Katō Hiroyuki
Born	(1836-08-05)August 5, 1836 Izushi, Hyōgo, Japan
Died	February 9, 1916(1916-02-09) (aged 79) Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japan
Occupation	Educator, legal scholar

Baron Katō Hiroyuki (加藤 弘之^?, August 5, 1836 – February 9, 1916) was an academic and politician of the Meiji period Japan.

Katō was born on August 5, 1836 to a samurai family in Izushi domain, Tajima Province (present day Hyōgo Prefecture), and studied military science under Sakuma Shōzan and rangaku under Oki Nakamasu in Edo.

As an instructor at the Tokugawa bakufu's Bansho Shirabesho institute for researching Western science and technology from 1860–1868, he was one of the first Japanese to study German language and German philosophy.

After the Meiji Restoration, Katō wrote numerous theses recommending Japanese adoption of Western forms of government, especially that of a constitutional monarchy with a national assembly based on representative democracy. He joined the Rikken Seiyūkai political party, and was also a founding member of the Meirokusha intellectual society organized by Mori Arinori. A strong believer in social Darwinism, he drew parallels a democratic government and the natural order. As a member of the Genroin, he strongly supported Statism, a much more authoritarian version of government against the views propounded by the Freedom and People's Rights Movement.