Mitsukuri Rinsho

Mitsukuri Rinshō
箕作 麟祥
Member of the House of Peers
In office
29 September 1890 – 29 November 1897
Nominated by the Emperor
Member of the Genrōin
In office
10 April 1880 – 9 November 1888
Personal details
Born(1846-09-19)19 September 1846
Died29 November 1897(1897-11-29) (aged 51)
RelativesIshikawa Chiyomatsu (son-in-law)
Hantaro Nagaoka (son-in-law)
OccupationEntrepreneur

Baron Mitsukuri Rinshō (箕作麟祥; 19 September 1846 – 29 November 1897) was a Japanese statesman and legal scholar in Meiji period Japan.

Early life

Mitsukuri was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo) to a noted family of scholars working for the Tokugawa bakufu. He studied rangaku and received a posting to the Bansho Shirabesho, the Shōgun's research institute for foreign technology. In 1867, he was selected to accompany the Shogunate's expedition to the Paris World Exposition, which proved to be an eye-opener.

Meiji Bureaucrat

On his return to Japan, Mitsukuri joined the new Meiji government as a translator. He worked closely with foreign advisors from France, especially Gustave Emile Boissonnade, de Fontarabie on drafting Japan's new commercial law and civil law codes. He also served on the Genrōin, and was active in the Meirokusha.

He later served as Vice Minister of Justice from 1888–1889, the House of Peers and as chief justice of the Administrative Court. He was also president of Wafutsu University, the predecessor of Hosei University. Shortly before his death, he was ennobled with the title of danshaku (baron) under the kazoku peerage system.

References

  • Sims, Richard. French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854-1894.RoutledgeCurzon( 1998). ISBN 978-1-873410-61-5
  • Wolferen, Karol van. The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation. Vintage; Reprint edition (1990). ISBN 978-0-679-72802-3