Ōkuma Shigenobu
Japanese politician (1838-1922)
Marquess Ōkuma Shigenobu (Japanese: 大隈 重信; 11 March 1838 – 10 January 1922) was a Japanese statesman who was a leading figure in the Meiji and Taishō eras of Japan, serving as Prime Minister in 1898, and from 1914 to 1916. A key advocate for the adoption of Western science and culture in Japan, Ōkuma was a central figure in the country's modernization. He founded the political party Rikken Kaishintō and was an early proponent of parliamentary democracy. He is also the founder of Waseda University.
Born in Hizen Province (modern-day Saga Prefecture), Ōkuma was an early advocate for the abolition of the feudal system and the establishment of a constitutional government. As an "outsider" from Saga, he was a rare exception in the Satsuma-Chōshū clique that dominated the Meiji government. He joined the government in 1868 and rose to become Minister of Finance, a position in which he unified the nation's currency, created a national budget, and established the national mint. Following a political crisis in 1881, he was ousted from the government by his rivals. In opposition, he founded the Rikken Kaishintō and became one of the most prominent public figures championing a British-style parliamentary system.
Ōkuma returned to government as Foreign Minister in 1888 to work on treaty revision, but resigned after an assassination attempt by a nationalist in 1889 cost him his right leg.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ōkuma Shigenobu” as japanese politician (1838-1922). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as japanese politician (1838-1922). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q243141. VIAF identifies the subject as 74655776. The Library of Congress control number is n81079768. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1838, 1922, 1898 and 1914.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ōkuma Shigenobu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.