YAMAGATA ARITOMO, KOSHAKU

(Duke, or Prince) born Aug. 3, 1838, Hagi, Japan died Feb. 1, 1922, Tokyo Japanese soldier and statesman who exerted a strong influence in Japan's emergence as a formidable military power at the beginning of the 20th century. He was the first prime minister under the parliamentary regime, serving 188991 and 18981900. Additional reading The three biographies of Yamagata, in Japaneseby Fujimura Michio (1961), by Oka Yoshitake (1958), and by Tokutomi Iichiro (1933, reprinted 1969)are all excellent. A publication in English, Roger F. Hackett, Yamagata Aritomo in the Rise of Modern Japan, 18381922 (1971), gives a full account of his life.