Yoshikawa Akimasa (芳川顕正)
Akimasa YOSHIKAWA (January 21, 1842 - January 10, 1920) was a government official and a statesman in Japan.
Personal Profile
He was from Yamakawa-cho, Oe District, Tokushima Prefecture (later Yoshinogawa City). He was the nobility as well as a viscount and later became a count.
When he was a government official, he had a hard time because he had no backer, but he contributed to the establishment of a banking system. Being recognized by Aritomo YAMAGATA, he went into politics. He held the following posts: (the eighth) Governor of Tokyo, a member of the House of Peers (of Japan), (the sixth) Minister of Justice, (the sixth, seventh and eleventh) Minister of Education, (the twelfth, sixteenth and twenty third) Minister of Home Affairs, (the ninth and twelfth) Minister of Communication, and (the fourth) Vice Chairman of the Privy Council.
He did not have a son in a direct line, and therefore his fourth daughter's husband (Hiroharu Yoshikawa) succeeded to the Yoshikawa family.
Biography
He was a feudal retainer of Tokushima Domain. He joined the government after the Meiji Restoration, and then he was assigned to National Printing Bureau of Ministry of the Treasury in 1872 and became the Governor of Tokyo in 1882.
He was known as a close advisor for Aritomo YAMAGATA and appointed to the Minister of Education in the first Yamagata cabinet. During his office, he made efforts to issue the Imperial Rescript on Education.
He stayed on as the Minister of Education in the first Matsukata cabinet in 1891. After leaving his office, he became an imperial court councilor.
He was appointed to the Minister of Justice in the second Ito cabinet in 1893. He stayed on in the second Matsukata cabinet following the Ito cabinet. At that time, he served concurrently as the Minister of Education. In 1896, he served concurrently as the Minister of Home Affairs.
He was appointed to the Minister of Home Affairs again in the first Okuma cabinet in 1898. Following that, he was appointed to the Minister of Communication in the second Yamagata cabinet. He received a viscount.
He was appointed to the Minister of Communication again in the first Katsura cabinet in 1901. He was appointed to the Minister of Home Affairs for the third time in the first Katsura cabinet in 1904. He was appointed to the first president of the sexually transmitted disease prevention association (present Japanese Foundation for Sexual Health Medicine) when it was established. He was appointed to the Vice Chairman of the Privy Council in 1912. He resigned as the Vice Chairman of the Privy Council in 1917 due to the scandal of his family.
He participated in the establishment of Nanyo Kyokai (the predecessor of Intercultural Communication Foundation) and became the first chairman in 1915.