# Watanabe Kunitake

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[Viscount](/source/Viscount) **Watanabe Kunitake** (渡辺 国武) was a [Japanese](/source/Japanese_people) politician, cabinet minister and deputy prime minister, who lived in the [Meiji](/source/Meiji_period) and [Taishō periods](/source/Taish%C5%8D_period). Noted primarily for his role as [finance minister](/source/Minister_of_Finance_(Japan)), he was also the younger brother of Count [Watanabe Chiaki](/source/Watanabe_Chiaki).

## Early life

Watanabe was born in 1846.[1] in the hamlet of Tobori in [Shinano Province](/source/Shinano_Province), now part of [Okaya](/source/Okaya,_Nagano), [Nagano Prefecture](/source/Nagano_Prefecture), where his father was a [samurai](/source/Samurai) in the service of [Takashima Domain](/source/Takashima_Domain). He lost his parents while still a small child and was raised by his grandparents and elder brother. After attending the domainal academy to study military arts, he was sent to [Edo](/source/Edo) to enroll in the academy run by [Sakuma Shōzan](/source/Sakuma_Sh%C5%8Dzan). However, after Sakuma's assassination, he stayed at the domain's Edo residence, where he studied the [French language](/source/French_language). In 1868, he was sent to [Kyoto](/source/Kyoto) as part of the retinue of his *[daimyō](/source/Daimy%C5%8D)*, Suwa Tadaaya, who had been assigned guard duties at Kyoto Palace, and it was at this time that he first met [Ōkubo Toshimichi](/source/%C5%8Ckubo_Toshimichi), whom he refused entrance to the Palace on the grounds that his pass was not in order.[citation needed]

## Early Meiji period

In 1871, following the [Meiji Restoration](/source/Meiji_Restoration), Watanabe and his brother were called to Tokyo, and were able to secure positions at the new [Ministry of Popular Affairs](/source/Ministry_of_Popular_Affairs) with Ōkubo's assistance. In 1873, he joined the [Ministry of the Treasury](/source/Ministry_of_the_Treasury). However, with the [Seikanron](/source/Seikanron) debate and issues caused by the [Freedom and People's Rights Movement](/source/Freedom_and_People's_Rights_Movement), Ōkubo called upon Watanabe as a troubleshooter for the [Home Ministry](/source/Home_Ministry_(Japan)), sending him a governor of [Kōchi Prefecture](/source/K%C5%8Dchi_Prefecture) and [Tokushima Prefecture](/source/Tokushima_Prefecture) in 1876, and with the start of the [Satsuma Rebellion](/source/Satsuma_Rebellion), sending him as governor of [Fukuoka Prefecture](/source/Fukuoka_Prefecture) in 1877, and back to Kōchi in 1879. Ultimately unsuccessful in assisting Ōkubo, he resigned his posts and retired to seclusion in Kyoto, where he devoted his time to studies of French, [German](/source/German_language) and [English](/source/English_language), as well as classical Latin and Greek. With the government reorganization of 1881, Watanabe was recalled to government service by [Matsukata Masayoshi](/source/Matsukata_Masayoshi) in 1882 as Chief of the Research Bureau of the Finance Ministry, followed by Budgetary Director in 1886 and Finance Secretary in 1888.[2]

## Cabinet Minister

Following Matsukata's resignation in the aftermath of the election scandal precipitated by [Shinagawa Yajirō](/source/Shinagawa_Yajir%C5%8D) in 1892, Watanabe was appointed Minister of Finance under the 2nd [Itō Hirobumi](/source/It%C5%8D_Hirobumi) administration. During his tenure, the government was in a budgetary deadlock, as the opposition parties demanded a large reduction in public spending, whereas the military was pushing for more warships. The impasse was only resolved through the personal intervention of [Emperor Meiji](/source/Emperor_Meiji), and Watanabe was replaced as Finance Minister by Matsukata on 17 March 1896, but returned to the same post from 27 August to 18 September of the same year.[3] Watanabe was involved in establishment of the Committee on the Monetary System that was charged with the analysis of the best monetary system for Japan's economy in the long run.[4]

Watanabe also held the post of [Communications Minister](/source/Ministry_of_Communications_(Japan)) in 1895 under the 2nd Itō administration and also served as Itō's vice premier.[2]

In 1900, Watanabe became one of the founding organizers of the [Rikken Seiyūkai](/source/Rikken_Seiy%C5%ABkai) political party.[5] He was reappointed as Finance Minister under the 4th Itō administration in 1900–1901,[1] despite having had a falling out with Itō earlier on the subject of political appointments. During his tenure, he attempted to impose an austerity budget, with implementation of a sugar tax and a liquor tax, and cutbacks in government enterprises. The measures passed the [lower house](/source/House_of_Representatives_of_Japan), but were blocked by the [upper house](/source/House_of_Peers_(Japan)), resulting in another deadlocked [Diet of Japan](/source/Diet_of_Japan) which was resolved only through his resignation.[citation needed]

## Later years and death

Following his resignation, Watanabe largely retired from public life. He made a trip to Russia before the [Russo-Japanese War](/source/Russo-Japanese_War) of 1904-1905 and returned a strong proponent of the conflict, and was a leader in the opposition to the [Treaty of Portsmouth](/source/Treaty_of_Portsmouth). After suffering from a stroke, he retired to his villa in [Azabu](/source/Azabu), Tokyo, and subsequently to [Izu](/source/Izu,_Shizuoka), where he died in 1919 at the age of 73. A lifelong bachelor, he adopted [Chifuyu Watanabe](/source/Chifuyu_Watanabe) the third son of his brother Chiaki as his heir. Watanabe wrote poems and prose as well as he played the Japanese harp, [koto](/source/Koto_(instrument)).[2]

## References

1. Donald Keene (2002). [*Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852–1912*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3YQpz9v8TjQC&pg=PA465). Columbia University Press. p. 465. ISBN 978-0-231-12341-9.

1. Marius B. Jansen (2001). [*The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan*](https://books.google.com/books?id=VmFdariJ8hcC&pg=PA199). Princeton, NJ; Oxford: Princeton University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-691-05095-9.

1. Shinkichi Nagaoka (1981). ["Indemnity consideration in Japanese Financial policy after Sino Japanese war of 1894–95"](http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/30694/1/11_P1-29.pdf). *Hokudai Economic Papers*. **11**: 1–29. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140222195212/http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/30694/1/11_P1-29.pdf) 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Kris James Mitchener; Masato Shizume; Marc D. Weidenmier (July 2009). ["Why did Countries Adopt the Gold Standard? Lessons from Japan"](http://cid.bcrp.gob.pe/biblio/Papers/NBER/2009/Julio/w15195.pdf). *NBER Working Paper*. No. 15195. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140222101123/http://cid.bcrp.gob.pe/biblio/Papers/NBER/2009/Julio/w15195.pdf) 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Andrew Fraser (December 1993). ["Political Leaders of Tokushima, 1868–1912"](http://www.eastasianhistory.org/sites/default/files/article-content/06/EAH06%20_07.pdf). *East Asian History*. **6**: 143–162. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140222170503/http://www.eastasianhistory.org/sites/default/files/article-content/06/EAH06%20_07.pdf) 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Watanabe Kunitake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watanabe_Kunitake) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watanabe_Kunitake?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.