Shimpei Gotō
| Gotō Shinpei | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
24 July 1857 Isawa District, Iwate, Japan |
| Died | 13 April 1929 (aged 71) Okayama, Japan |
| Cause of death | cerebral hemorrhage |
| Resting place | Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Politician, Cabinet Minister |
Count Gotō Shinpei (後藤 新平?, 24 July 1857 – 13 April 1929) was a statesman and cabinet minister in the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first director of the South Manchuria Railway, the seventh mayor of Tokyo City, the first Chief Scout of Japan, the first director of NHK, the third principal of Takushoku University, and in a number of cabinet posts.
Gotō was born in Isawa, Mutsu Province (present-day in Iwate Prefecture). He entered Sukagawa medical school in Fukushima Prefecture at the age of seventeen, and became a doctor in Nagoya after graduation. In 1877, he served as a government medic during the Satsuma Rebellion. At the age of 25, he became president of the Nagoya Medical School.
Having distinguished himself through his work at the Nagoya Medical School and at the military hospital in Osaka during the Satsuma Rebellion, Gotō joined the Home Ministry's medical bureau (衛生局) in 1883, eventually becoming its head. In 1890 Gotō was sent by the Japanese government to Germany for further studies. While at the ministry, in 1890 he published his Principles of National Health (国家衛生原理) and took part in the creation of new sewage and water facilities in Tokyo. This recommended him to Army Vice-Minister Kodama Gentarō (1852–1906), who made Gotō chief of the Army Quarantine Office looking after the return of more than 230,000 soldiers from the First Sino-Japanese War (1895–95). After the war, Gotō returned to the Home Ministry, but remained involved in overseas affairs, advising the new Japanese administration on Taiwan about health issues. In 1896, Kodama, now governor-general of Taiwan, asked Gotō to join him there, eventually making him the first civilian governor of the island in 1898.
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