Tanaka Yoshimi (田中好)
Yoshimi TANAKA (December 1886 - November 14, 1956) was a politician (House of Representatives) who was born in Funai County, Kyoto Prefecture (later Jonan-machi, Sonobe Town and now Jonan-machi, Sonobe Town, Nantan City)
He held posts such as Director of the Japan Road Association, Controller of Japan Sabo Association, Chairman of the Commerce and Welfare Standing Committee and Chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee.
After graduating from Ritsumeikan University, he worked for the Kyoto Prefectural Office and Hyogo Prefectural Office and then joined the Department of the Interior. Later, he transferred to the Ministry of Railways, but consistently engaged in road, transportation, and river improvement administration. He is known as the man who created the Road Act after the end of the war.
In 1936, he ran in the 19th election of the House of Representatives and was elected for the first time. Thereafter, he served two terms before the war (Kyoto District 2), and once after the war (Kyoto District 2) and was involved in national politics for four terms. Particularly in the 26th House of Representative election in 1953, he won by landslide against Hitoshi ASHIDA (former Prime Minister) and Shigezaburo MAEO (former House of Representatives chairman) from a strong push from Hiromu NONAKA who was a member of the Sonobe Town Council and secretary to the member of the House at the time. He served as the chairperson of Commerce and Welfare Standing Committee and chairperson of the Health and Welfare Committee. Within the party, he belonged to the Kishi faction. He exerted efforts to get National Route 9 built through the Oinosaka-toge Pass, which was a difficult location to build a road.
On May 14, 1964, 'Shotokuhi' (a monument which praises one's high virtue) was dedicated at the southern side of the Kannon-toge Mountain pass tunnel in recognition of his great achievement. The monument was later transferred to the top of Mt. Komukai (Obuke-zan) near the ruins of Sonobe-jo Castle. The inscription on the monument is done in ex-Prime Minister Nobusuke KISHI's handwriting.
The author of the epigraph was inscribed as 'Munenori AKAGI, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Shotokuhi Construction Committee.'
Reference: Yoshimi TANAKA Shotokuhi
Yoshimi Tanaka was born 1886 in Sonobe Town, Kyoto. He graduated from Ritsumeikan University and served in the Department of Interior, as the Ministry of Railways in Kyoto and Hyogo. In 1936, he was elected to the House of Representatives from Kyoto District 2 and served 4 terms. During his tenure, he held the post of chairperson of the Commerce and Welfare Standing Committee and many other posts. He was involved in many huge projects, particularly in the field of road, transportation, and river improvement. The construction of National Route 9 through the Oinosaka-toge Pass and the renovation of Hankaku Road in Tanba are two of the many projects he was involved in.