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Saionji Kinmochi

Saionji Kinmochi
西園寺 公望
Kinmochi Saionji 2.jpg
7th Prime Minister of Japan
In office
30 August 1911 – 21 December 1912
Monarch Meiji
Taishō
Preceded by Katsura Tarō
Succeeded by Katsura Tarō
In office
7 January 1906 – 14 July 1908
Monarch Meiji
Preceded by Katsura Tarō
Succeeded by Katsura Tarō
In office
10 May 1901 – 2 June 1901
Acting
Monarch Meiji
Preceded by Itō Hirobumi
Succeeded by Katsura Tarō
Personal details
Born (1849-10-23)23 October 1849
Kyoto, Tokugawa (now Japan)
Died November 24, 1940(1940-11-24) (aged 91)
Political party Constitutional Association of Political Friendship
Alma mater University of Paris
Signature

Prince Saionji Kinmochi (西園寺 公望?, December 7, 1849 – November 24, 1940) was a Japanese politician, statesman and twice Prime Minister of Japan. His title does not signify the son of an emperor, but the highest rank of Japanese hereditary nobility; he was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920. As the last surviving genrō, he was Japan's most honored statesman of the 1920s and 1930s.

Kinmochi was born in Kyoto as the son of Udaijin Tokudaiji Kin'ito (1821–1883), head of a kuge family of court nobility. He was adopted by another kuge family, the Saionji, in 1851. However, he grew up near his biological parents, since both the Tokudaiji and Saionji lived very near the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The young Saionji Kinmochi was frequently ordered to visit the palace as a playmate of the young prince who later became Emperor Meiji. Over time they became close friends. Kinmochi's biological brother Tokudaiji Sanetsune later became the Grand Chamberlain of Japan. Another younger brother was adopted into the very wealthy Sumitomo family and as Sumitomo Kichizaemon became the head of the Sumitomo zaibatsu. Sumitomo money largely financed Saionji's political career. His close relationship to the Imperial Court opened all doors to him. In his later political life, he was an influence on both the Taishō and Shōwa emperors.


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