{{Short description|Japanese jurist and politician (1852–1886)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} thumb {{nihongo|'''Azusa Ono'''|小野 梓|Ono Azusa|extra=March 10, 1852 – January 11, 1886}} was a Japanese intellectual, jurist and politician during the Meiji era. He was an advisor to Ōkuma Shigenobu and participated in debates on reforms and the drafting of a first constitution for Japan after the Meiji restoration of 1868 which saw the end of the shogun regime. A specialist in international law, Ono advocated the establishment of a parliamentary system based on respect for the rights of the people, inspired by the British model. He then played an important role in the founding of the Progressive Constitutional Party (Rikken Kaishintō) and the creation of Waseda University.
== Biography == Ono was born in Sukumo, a small fishing village in Shikoku, into a family of well-to-do merchants who became samurai associate in the Tosa Domain.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=l-780neNEmsC&pg=PA19 Intellectual Change and Political Development in Early Modern Japan]</ref> He served in the Boshin War (civil war) of 1868–1869.<ref name="Waseda">{{cite web|title=Azusa Ono (1852–1886): The Founding Father of the School|url=http://www.waseda.jp/eng/okuma/people/people101.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130702224619/http://www.waseda.jp/eng/okuma/people/people101.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 2, 2013|agency=Université Waseda|access-date=September 24, 2012|publication-date=}}</ref> He left to study at Shōheikō in Tokyo, then in Osaka where he learned English in 1871. He went to the United States to study law before going to London from 1872 to 1874 to learn economics and the banking system. During this stay, he took the opportunity to travel to Europe and discover the different Western political systems.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=21nGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 Politics of the Meiji Press: The Life of Fukuchi Gen’ichirō]</ref>
Returning to Japan in Tokyo, Ono obtained a post at the Ministry of Finance in 1876. He soon was given the responsibility of drafting a new civil code for the Ministry of Justice. His knowledge of international law earned him a rapid ascent in the hierarchy so that he quickly rubbed shoulders with various leaders of the Meiji era, including Ōkuma Shigenobu, minister of finance. The two men had many similarities of views.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} In 1880 Ono was transferred in the same ministry and occupied an important position.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=l-780neNEmsC&pg=PA107 Intellectual Change and Political Development in Early Modern Japan]</ref>
It was a political turning point in 1881 when the emperor decided to form a national assembly in Japan. Therefore, in 1882, Ono resigned with others from the administration and participated in the founding of a political party, the Rikken Kaishintō (Constitutional Progressive Party), around Ōkuma Shigenobu.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kaishinto |title=Kaishintō Political Party, Japan |access-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026225511/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kaishinto |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=M1PRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT256 History of Japan: Revised Edition]</ref> He was active at all levels in the creation of the party and eventually became its secretary general.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/432.html |title=Ono, Azusa (1852–1886) |access-date=May 21, 2020 |archive-date=July 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722172857/https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/432.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It is no exaggeration to consider Ono as the "real" founder of the party, with his significant contributions.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
In 1882 Ono also assisted Ōkuma Shigenobu in the opening of an educational establishment, ''Tokyo Senmon Gakkō'' (Specialized School of Tokyo). The school eventually became Waseda University.<ref>[http://www.waseda.jp/student/weekly/english/2011/1246/246j_history.html Statue of Azusa Ono Eternal message of the “Independence of Learning”]{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Ono died in 1886 at the age of 33 from chronic tuberculosis.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vgaaF9JhDV8C&pg=RA2-PA339 Proliferating Talent: Essays on Politics, Thought, and Education in the ...]</ref>
== Political and intellectual positions == In the 1870s and 1880s, there were many debates in Japan over the form of government the country was to adopt after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji restoration strongly influenced by his stays abroad. Ono took part in the discussions and published numerous articles offering a point of view close to the British model.
This was put into action upon his return to Japan by the creating a group of young intellectuals named ''Kyōzon dōshū'' (Society for Coexistence). They organized conferences, published an opinion journal and opened a public library.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=l-780neNEmsC&pg=PA49 Intellectual Change and Political Development in Early Modern Japan]</ref> This group was displayed on the Society of Japanese Students which he had created in London during his studies with a countrywoman, Baba Tatsui.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=n2OV3bE-W9cC&pg=PA111 Baba Tatsui, Natural Laws and Willful Natures]</ref> In an article of 1875, he wrote on the importance of the respect for the natural rights of the people and individual freedom. He strongly supported the abolition of torture in 1879.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/42029815 |title=Disorder and the Japanese Revolution, 1871–1877 |access-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022001741/https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/42029815 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Ono mainly contributed to the images of the organization of the government and the writing of a constitution for Japan. In Ono's 1881 constitutional essay which he wrote together with Miyoshi Taizō and Iwasaki Taizō, he proposed a parliament elected by the people, an upper house appointed by the emperor, a rigorous framework for state administration, and also stressed the importance of the rights of the individual (using ideas from the United States Constitution).
He also upheld the importance of a unified ministerial cabinet and from political parties, replacing the territorial administration derived from feudal clans who ruled Japan for many centuries.<ref>[https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1438/feudalism-in-medieval-japan/ Feudalism in Medieval Japan]</ref> In this sense, he strongly opposed the defenders of an oligarchic government linked to the big clans and repeatedly criticized the feudal practices which he judged evil for the liberties of the people. He was a defender of individual rights and freedom and therefore remained very close to western models.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} However, he also brought forth the dangers of forced westernization and rather favored reforms that kept the Japanese spirit, notably the central role of the emperor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Genealogy-Japanese-Self-Images-Society/dp/1876843047 |title=A Genealogy of Japanese Self-Images (Japanese Society Series) English Ed |access-date=May 26, 2020 |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403093611/https://www.amazon.com/Genealogy-Japanese-Self-Images-Society/dp/1876843047 |url-status=live }}</ref> This was also a reason why the French model, born of a particularly radical Revolution, was not preferred by Shigenobu and Ono.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/france/en/part1/s1_4.html |title=Section 4: The development of the constitutional government |access-date=May 28, 2020 |archive-date=July 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722220016/https://www.ndl.go.jp/france/en/part1/s1_4.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Ōkuma Shigenobu remains known among other things for his memoir given to the emperor in 1881, his advocacy for the rapid establishment of a national assembly, the drafting of a constitution, and his campaign for the importance of political parties.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1948956?seq=1 The Japanese Constitution]</ref> Ono's role has been debated in the writing of this memoir, which had received favorable receptions from the emperor. However, many of the ideas present were discussed between Ono and Shigenobu.<ref>[https://yab.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/wol/dy/culture/120926.html Culture"Shigenobu Okuma and Azusa Ono─Foundations of the University" Exhibition]</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Japan}} *Constitution of Japan *Politics of Japan
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ono, Azusa}} Category:Japanese jurists Category:19th-century Japanese people Category:Japanese human rights activists Category:1852 births Category:1886 deaths Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Japan Category:Activists from Kōchi Prefecture Category:People from Sukumo, Kōchi