INOUE KAORU, KOSHAKU

(Marquess) born Jan. 16, 1835, Choshu, Nagato Province, Japan died Sept. 1, 1915, Tokyo member of the oligarchy that ruled Japan during the Meiji period (18681912). Inoue was born to a samurai family and was a close boyhood friend of Ito Hirobumi, who later became Japan's first prime minister. Desiring to rid Japan of foreigners, the pair joined an attack on the British legation in Edo (now Tokyo). When this failed they became aware of their powerlessness and decided to study the foreigners firsthand. They left Japan in 1863 and worked their way to England as ordinary sailors. The following year, when news reached them of the crisis in Japan over the bombardment of foreign ships by their own clan, they hurried home to urge their clansmen and others to seek peace. They failed in this effort, and Inoue was attacked and injured by reactionary samurai. With the overthrow of the Tokugawa clan, which had ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867, and the restoration of power to the Meiji emperor, Inoue became a leading member of the government and held important positions in the ministries of finance, industry, and foreign affairs. After Ito became prime minister in 1885, Inoue served successively as foreign minister, minister of the interior, and minister of finance. During the Russo-Japanese War (190405) he was named special adviser to the minister of finance and at the request of the Emperor attended all important state councils. He was closely associated with the financial world and had connections with the giant Mitsui zaibatsu. The zaibatsu were extremely large, family-owned financial empires. He retired from active politics in 1898 but continued to have an important influence on the state, remaining until his death one of the elder statesmen, or genro, whose advice the Emperor sought on difficult political questions. He became a marquess in 1907.