Wakatsuki Reijirō | |
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若槻 礼次郎 | |
25th and 28th Prime Minister of Japan | |
In office 14 April 1931 – 13 December 1931 |
|
Monarch | Shōwa |
Preceded by | Hamaguchi Osachi |
Succeeded by | Inukai Tsuyoshi |
In office 28 January 1926 – 20 April 1927 Acting until 30 January 1926 |
|
Monarch |
Taishō Hirohito (Regent)/Shōwa |
Preceded by | Katō Takaaki |
Succeeded by | Tanaka Giichi |
Personal details | |
Born |
Matsue, Izumo Province, Japan |
21 March 1866
Died | 20 November 1949 Tokyo, Japan |
(aged 83)
Resting place | Somei Cemetery, Tokyo |
Political party | Rikken Minseitō (1927–1949) |
Other political affiliations |
Rikken Dōshikai (until 1916) Kenseikai (1916–1927) |
Alma mater | Tokyo Imperial University |
Signature |
Baron Wakatsuki Reijirō (若槻 禮次郎?, 21 March 1866 – 20 November 1949) was a Japanese politician and the 25th and 28th Prime Minister of Japan.
Wakatsuki was born in Matsue, Izumo Province, (present day Shimane Prefecture). His father, a samurai who served the local Matsudaira daimyō had the family name of Okamura. Wakatsuki was adopted after marriage into the family of his wife, since that family had no male heir, and only assumed the Wakatsuki name at that time. He enrolled in the Tokyo Imperial University in 1892 and studied law.
After graduation, Wakatsuki worked in the Ministry of Finance as tax bureau director and later as vice-minister. In 1911 he was appointed to the House of Peers. He then served as Minister of Finance under the 3rd Katsura administration and 2nd Ōkuma administration in the early 1910s and became a leading member of the Rikken Dōshikai political party, and its successor the Kenseikai, in 1914.
In June 1924, Wakatsuki was named Home Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Katō Takaaki, and worked to enact the Universal Manhood Suffrage Law and the Peace Preservation Law in 1925.